It is rewarding to collaborate with 519 providers of End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) services to serve the 47,000 people with kidney failure in our 5-state region. For 2015, we are particularly pleased to report the following accomplishments.
Reduced long-term catheters
In 2015, the Midwest Kidney Network reduced its Long-term Catheter (LTC) in-use rate by 2.1%, from 16.3% to 14.2%. This effort helped 260 patients get a permanent vascular access, an annual savings of approximately three million dollars.
This was accomplished through a 3-tiered intervention approach for nearly 100 dialysis facilities with >10% LTC in-use rate. We conducted:
- Workshops for 65 dialysis facilities.
- Off-site record reviews for 16 dialysis facilities.
- On-site focused reviews for 15 dialysis facilities.
Increased the percent of patients setting personal goals by 46%
Patients tell us that not all life is measured by dialysis-related clinical measures. When patients set their own personal goals, they rekindle hope for themselves. Setting goals is an intentional exercise, which is associated with improved outcomes. At the conclusion of this project, 65% of the patients had set personal goals. In addition, three project facilities reported that encouraging patients to identify and set personal goals would become a part of patient care plans.
Decreased bloodstream infections by 36%
Conducting monthly audits to prevent healthcare-associated infection (HAI), results in decreased bloodstream infections (BSI). The 93 dialysis facilities that conducted monthly audits in 2015 decreased their BSI rate by 36%, whereas all other dialysis facilities in the Network region only had an 18% decrease.
Increased home dialysis referrals by 17.7%
Dialyzing at home can increase independence and quality of life for people with kidney failure. The first step in this process is being referred. In less than nine months, 12 dialysis facilities worked intensively to refer 576 patients for home dialysis, which equates to a $12 million savings as these patients progress to going on dialysis at home.
Helped to ease the transition from kidney transplant to dialysis
Midwest Kidney Network’s Consumer Committee members expressed the anxiety associated with the transition from kidney transplant to dialysis. No resources were found about this. Committee members developed three tri-fold brochures to help patients and providers to ease this difficult transition.