KidneyViews
Welcome to the non-profit Medical Education Institute's Home Dialysis Central blogspot! This page is an umbrella under which Home Dialysis Central staff and guests can share their perspectives about home therapies and what we need to do to raise their profile and enable more people to use them. We'd like your comments as well! Bookmark our site and like us on Facebook! Help us tell the world about home dialysis.
We have a "lifestyle bible" for sale that can help you learn about dialysis options. Help, I Need Dialysis! We also have prepared some slideshows on how to have a good future with kidney disease.
The Modality Mayhem of Modern Dialysis
(10 comments)
The term used in the dialysis world to describe the various available treatment options is “modality”...but—especially in dialysis—“modality” is an increasingly dirty word. Not dirty as in smutty, but dirty as in confused, confusing, and unclear.
Published on 12/01/2017 by Dr. John Agar
Tags: Making dialysis better , Education issues: for patients and professionals,
October 15-December 7 Is Medicare’s Annual Enrollment Period for Parts C & D
(0 comments)
Did you know that each year people with Medicare have a choice as to whether to keep the type of Medicare they have or switch to another type of Medicare? When patients are looking at their Medicare options, they need to understand the differences
Published on 11/15/2017 by Beth Witten, MSW, ACSW, LSCSW
Tags: Choosing the right path through ‘The System’ , Education issues: for patients and professionals,
Is a Patient-Centered Dialysis Behavior Contract Possible?
(7 comments)
Social workers want to know how to motivate patients to behave differently. Some dialysis clinics ask patients who exhibit challenging behaviors to sign a contract to avoid consequences.
Published on 11/09/2017 by Beth Witten, MSW, ACSW, LSCSW
Tags: Making dialysis better, Education issues: for patients and professionals,
Home Hemodialysis Training Re-Imagined
(11 comments)
Because I have a front row seat inside so many home dialysis clinics on a weekly basis, and have been confronted with so many obstacles to HHD success, I am determined to devote my life work to finding solutions to each and every one.
Published on 11/02/2017 by Susan Ostrzycki/RN
Tags: Making dialysis better,
Blood Flow Rate, Fistula Integrity, and Optimal Clearance
(23 comments)
Let me place my “take” on fistulas, blood flow rates, optimal clearance of small and middle molecules, and fistula integrity on record. I do this in response to that advocate blood flow rates of 400, 450, and (ye gods!) even 520 ml/min!
Published on 10/26/2017 by Dr. John Agar
Tags: How dialysis works , How to understand ‘bloods’ and other tests, Fistulas, grafts and catheters (including PD), Education issues: for patients and professionals,
A Further Guide to Self-cannulation with the Rope Ladder technique: Single-handed Needling
(4 comments)
Those who cannulate alone (and therefore with one hand!) gain valuable tips, empowering adaptations that suit personal temperament and aptitude. ...we revisit angle of entry, and also touch on taping, method of insertion, and gauge of needle.
Published on 10/19/2017 by Ant de Villiers
Tags: Making dialysis better , Education issues: for patients and professionals,
How Might the CHRONIC Care Act Affect People on Home Dialysis?
(1 comments)
Recently the U.S. Senate passed a bill called the Creating High-Quality Results and Outcomes Necessary to Improve Chronic (CHRONIC) Care Act of 2017 or (CHRONIC Care Act). If this bill is enacted and signed
Published on 10/12/2017 by Beth Witten, MSW, ACSW, LSCSW
Tags: Education issues: for patients and professionals, Choosing the right path through ‘The System’ ,
An Exemplar Dialysis Unit
(10 comments)
what follows is how I imagined things could be, as I thought through the dialysis service design we currently and repeatedly churn out—and the recurrent shortcomings of that design
Published on 10/05/2017 by Dr. John Agar
Tags: Education issues: for patients and professionals, Making dialysis better,
Act Now! Graham-Cassidy Bill Threatens Healthcare for People with Kidney Disease
(6 comments)
The “Better Care Reconciliation Act” was not successful, but we have a new bill that could have a serious impact on people with kidney disease. The Graham-Cassidy Health Care Plan is the new proposal that would replace the Affordable Care Act
Published on 09/25/2017 by Dr. Teri Browne
Tags: Education issues: for patients and professionals, Choosing the right path through ‘The System’ ,
A Coordinated Assault to Stop Frequent Hemodialysis—Action Needed!
(22 comments)
I write to you today deeply concerned about the health and welfare of dialysis patients under the care of United States nephrologists. I urge all of you to act quickly. Those of you who live in states that are covered by one of these MACs can begin
Published on 09/21/2017 by Dr. Alan Collins