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News Bulletins 2011 |
The CKD sessions include:
Find these at
http://www.aakp.org/events/convention/2011-Convention/CKD-Track.
The Dialysis track covers:
They can be found at
http://www.aakp.org/events/convention/2011-Convention/ESRD-Recording.
The sessions in the Transplantation series are:
You can link to these from
http://www.aakp.org/events/convention/2011-Convention/Transplant-Recordings.
There are earlier articles on Patient Education, on
Transplantation, and on
Diet and Nutrition.
Topic Index
Topic Index
Machine Alarms Poster for Patient Education
Northwest Renal Network’s monthly patient flyer is now posted on our website at
http://www.nwrenalnetwork.org/P/M/MachineAlarms1211.pdf. December’s
featured topic is A Patient Guide to Machine Alarms. These flyers are designed for posting in the facility waiting area, and for distribution to patients
and family members. Contact our Patient Services Coordinator, Lisa Hall (lhall@nw16.esrd.net) if you have questions
or ideas for future monthly topics.
There are earlier articles on Patient Education.
New Patient Newsletter on Employment
The December edition of our patient newsletter, Network Consumer News, has been mailed to facilities for distribution to
patients. If you haven't seen a copy, ask your dialysis facility for one, or contact the Network (see
http://www.nwrenalnetwork.org/contact.htm). This issue discusses
vocational rehabilitation, catheters, and conflict resolution, and includes a form for you to provide feedback and suggest
future topics. We've also included a Word Search puzzle, and a large-print version of the newsletter for patients with
limited vision. For the online versions of the newsletter and related materials, go to
http://www.nwrenalnetwork.org/P/NCN.htm#ncn52.
There are earlier articles on Network Consumer News, on
Vocational Rehabilitation, on
Vascular Access, and on
Conflict Resolution.
Public Comment on UNOS Bylaws Plain Language Rewrite Due by January 31, 2012
A new proposal for the OPTN Bylaws Plain Language Rewrite is being offered for public comment. This proposal was developed by the OPTN/UNOS
Membership and Professional Standards Committee (MPSC). The public comment period ends on January 31, 2012. For details and to
comment, see http://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/plainlanguage.asp. This webpage
provides members and the public a chance to review and comment on proposed changes to the bylaws using a series of brief web-based questionnaires in
an online survey instrument. If you have questions about how to access the online document or are uncertain how to submit your feedback, call us at
(804) 782-4813. You may also send general feedback to bylawsrewrite@unos.org.
There are earlier articles on Transplantation.
PY2012 QIP PSCs Available for Posting
Performance Score Certificates (PSC) for the Payment Year (PY) 2012 ESRD Quality Incentive Program (QIP) have been released. Each facility is responsible
for printing their PSC and posting it prominently where patients and caregivers can see it, before December 23. Find your PSC at
http://www.DialysisReports.org. If you have trouble logging in, call the Network
(http://www.nwrenalnetwork.org/contact.htm). The PSC documents your facility’s performance
on the ESRD QIP, including your total performance score, scores on individual measures, and comparisons to the national averages. The purpose of the
certificate is to notify patients being treated at your facility about your facility’s performance on the ESRD QIP, and to allow patients and their families to
understand the measures that are currently used to evaluate quality of dialysis care. CMS has provided a list of Frequently Asked Questions (and answers),
which you can find at http://www.nwrenalnetwork.org/N/QIP-FAQ12.pdf.
There are earlier articles on Reimbursement and on
Quality Improvement.
Free Patient Education on Home Hemodialysis
AAKP’s Healthline series will feature an educational conference call and webinar on "Home Hemodialysis: Helping Patients Lead a Healthier Life" on January 25,
2012. For details see
http://www.aakp.org/events/HealthLine/Upcoming-Calls/january2012/.
There are earlier articles on Patient Education and on
Home Dialysis.
Best Demonstrated Practices for Increasing Incident-Patient AVF-in-Place Rates
We’ve assembled a document compiling the Best Demonstrated Practices of those Network facilities who have already met the CMS and Network goal of 60% AVF
in place among incident patients, and placed it on our website at
http://www.nwrenalnetwork.org/Fist1st/IncidentAVF.pdf. We’ve linked to it from
our QI and Fistula First pages at http://www.nwrenalnetwork.org/QI/QI.htm#qip11 and
http://www.nwrenalnetwork.org/fist1st/fist1st.htm#staff. We’ve emailed a copy to
all facilities, and for facilities with more than a few incident patients over the prior year, included a peer-comparison graph and a Network-comparison histogram.
There are earlier articles on Vascular Access.
NKF SCM Abstract Deadline Extended
The National Kidney Foundation has extended the poster abstract submission deadline for the 2012 Spring Clinical Meetings until December 9. Accepted
abstracts will be published in the American Journal of Kidney Disease, the Journal of Renal Nutrition, Advances in Chronic Kidney Disease, or the
Journal of Nephrology Social Workers. For details see
http://www.kidney.org/news/meetings/clinical/index.cfm.
There are earlier articles on Professional Meetings.
Holiday Menu Tips Poster/Flyer
Northwest Renal Network’s monthly patient flyer is now posted on our website at
http://www.nwrenalnetwork.org/P/M/Monthly.htm. November’s featured topic is
Holiday Menu Tips. These flyers are designed for posting in the facility waiting area, and for distribution to patients and family members.
Contact our Patient Services Coordinator, Lisa Hall (lhall@nw16.esrd.net) if you have questions or ideas for future
monthly topics.
There are earlier articles on Diet and Nutrition.
Donate Life Rose Parade Float
QI Online Seminar Handouts Available
We've added to the Network website handouts for the online educational presentations (Web-exes) that supplement our 2011-12
Quality Improvement Projects. The presentations include
Find the handouts at http://www.nwrenalnetwork.org/QI/QI.htm#EQ11,
along with the Web-exes themselves. Both the handouts and the Web-exes are available for anyone to use.
There are earlier articles on Quality Improvement, and on
Vascular Access.
September AVF Rates
If we allow ourselves the luxury of rounding up from 67.97%, then in September we met our goal for 68% of Network hemodialysis patients to dialyze using an AV
Fistula! Congratulations and thanks to everyone who has worked so hard to get us here! Now we have to keep from sliding
backwards! The Network’s clinical goals can be found at
http://www.nwrenalnetwork.org/S/CPMGoals.pdf. We’ve updated the AVF progress graphs
on the Network website at http://www.nwrenalnetwork.org/fist1st/fist1st.htm#progress.
An additional 7.6% of Network hemodialysis patients had an AVF in place but not yet in use. The 2011 USRDS Annual Data Report
(http://www.usrds.org/adr.aspx) tells us that an AV graft is twice as likely to become infected as an AVF is, and a
catheter is eight times as likely to become infected as an AVF. The Network graft rate was 13.7% in September, and the long-term catheter rate 7.1%.
The short-term (less than 90 days) catheter rate was 3.5%, so the overall Network catheter rate was 10.6%. DFR Reports tell us that over the last decade, as the
Network AVF-in-use rate has climbed from 48% to 68%, the death rate due to infection has fallen by 23%, from 4.7 deaths per hundred patient-years in 2000-2003 to
3.6 in 2007-2010.
There are earlier articles on Vascular Access.
Modality Reports for September Available
Network Modality Reports (Patient Census) for September 2011 are now available, at
http://www.nwrenalnetwork.org/statsmode.htm. The dialysis population grew 2.4% since
last September – 10.2% in Alaska, 3.2% in Oregon, and 2.3% in Washington. Idaho lost 1.1%, and Montana was virtually unchanged. In-center
hemodialysis grew by 2.0%, home hemodialysis by 8.8%, and peritoneal dialysis by 3.7%. Home dialysis overall grew 4.5%. We will publish the
December Modality Report in February, but after that, under CROWNWeb, we do not know if we will have access to the underlying data.
There are earlier articles on Patient Census (Modality Reports).
HIPAA Compliance Audit Program
HHS has announced a new program of HIPAA compliance audits. They will use the audits as a quality improvement process, to assess privacy and security
compliance, examine mechanisms for compliance, identify best practices, and discover unexpected risks and vulnerabilities. The program is detailed at
http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/enforcement/audit/index.html.
There are earlier articles on HIPAA and on
Medical Records.
FEMA Test of Emergency Alert System November 9
FEMA will be testing the nationwide Emergency Alert system at 11am PST on November 9, 2011. For details see http://www.fema.gov/eastest/.
There are earlier articles on Emergency Preparedness.
New FFBI Newsletter
The Fistula First Breakthrough Initiative has released the second issue of their newsletter, The Gold Standard. This issue describes the ongoing work of the five FFBI
workgroups, and includes a full-page letter from the FFBI’s consulting surgeon that starts with “The FFBI Change Concepts identify several broad responsibilities of surgeons,
including evaluation of all patients for a potential AVF, effective use of ultrasound vessel mapping at each stage of fistula construction, mastery of more complex options for AVF
construction and prompt identification and treatment/referral of all non-maturing AVFs.” Find the newsletter at
http://www.fistulafirst.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=Kqhx-Okw1N0%3d&tabid=39.
Please pass this on to your surgeons.
There are earlier articles on Vascular Access.
QIP Final Rule Issued
CMS has issued a Final Rule that updates Medicare policies and payment rates for dialysis facilities paid under the ESRD Prospective Payment System (PPS),
first implemented in calendar year (CY) 2011. Payment rates for dialysis treatments will increase by 2.1 percent in CY 2012, representing the ESRD market
basket increase of 3.0 percent less a productivity adjustment of 0.9 percent, as required by statute. The Final Rule will also strengthen incentives for
improved quality of care, and promote better outcomes for beneficiaries through improvements to the ESRD Quality Incentive Program (QIP). Under the QIP,
payments to individual facilities are reduced if the facility does not achieve a certain total performance score based on their performance with respect to
measures that assess the quality of dialysis care the facility provided.
The policy changes and payment rates in the Final Rule will be effective for payments to dialysis facilities furnished on or after Jan. 1, 2012. The
Final Rule also details performance measures for the ESRD QIP in 2013 and 2014. See
http://www.cms.gov/apps/media/press/release.asp?Counter=4147 for the full CMS press
release, and links to the Final Rule itself.
There are earlier articles on Reimbursement and on
Quality Improvement.
Immunizations
2012 Medicare Premiums
NWRN Seeking Quality Improvement Director
This position will be full-time and based in Seattle, WA. Visit
http://www.nwrenalnetwork.org/J/1110QIDJobDescription.pdf for full
details, or send an email to nwhiring@qwestoffice.net. All applications will be kept in
strict confidence.
Change of Email Addresses
VASA Symposium May 9-11, 2012
The Vascular Access Society of the Americas will hold their biennial Vascular Access for Hemodialysis Symposium in Orlando FL May 9-11, 2012. As details become available,
they’ll be posted to http://www.vasamd.org/. Deadline for abstract submission is January 9, 2012.
There are earlier articles on Vascular Access and on
Professional Meetings.
MATCH-D Treatment Option Algorithm for Home Dialysis
MATCH-D, or the Method to Assess Treatment Choices for Home Dialysis was developed by the Medical Education Institute for Home Dialysis Central, to help
nephrologists and dialysis staff identify and assess candidates for home dialysis therapies (PD and HHD). It is designed to sensitize clinicians to key issues
about who can use home dialysis. There’s even an “app” for your smartphone or other intelligent mobile device. For details see
http://www.homedialysis.org/match-d.
There are earlier articles on Treatment Options and on
Patient Education.
Monthly NWRN Patient Flyers: Medicare Part D
Northwest Renal Network is pleased to introduce our new monthly informational flyer for patients, posted on our website at
http://www.nwrenalnetwork.org/P/M/Monthly.htm. This month’s featured topic is Medicare Part D.
The Part D Open Enrollment Period is earlier than usual this year. These monthly flyers are designed for posting in the facility waiting area, and for distribution to
patients and family members. Contact our Patient Services Coordinator, Lisa Hall (lhall@nw16.esrd.net) if you have questions or
ideas for future monthly topics.
There are earlier articles on Patient Education and on
Medicare Part D.
Online Seminars Posted for Network Quality Improvement Projects
We’ve posted to the Network website recorded versions of the online seminars (“Web-exes”) for the 2011-12 Network Quality Improvement Projects. The kick-off
presentation for each project is included, as are the educational presentations on
These educational presentations are available for anyone to use. You can find them all at
http://www.nwrenalnetwork.org/QI/QI.htm#qip11.
There are earlier articles on Vascular Access and on
Quality Improvement.
Facility Disaster Preparedness Guide Corrected
A correction has been made to the second edition of the CMS Disaster Preparedness Guide for Chronic Dialysis Facilities. Heading were scrambled in the earlier version.
The corrected edition is at
http://www.kcercoalition.com/pdf/Disaster_Preparedness_-_A_Guide_for_Chronic_Dialysis_Facilities_-_Second_Edition.pdf. We also link to it from our Emergency
Preparedness page at http://www.nwrenalnetwork.org/E/emergency.htm#fac.
There are earlier articles on Emergency Preparedness.
New Version of Survey MAT
There is a new version (1.9) of the survey Measures Assessment Tool or MAT. This table advises facilities on what state surveyors are trained to look for. The new
MAT can be found at http://www.nwrenalnetwork.org/CfC/MAT19.pdf. You can also find links to it from
our Conditions for Coverage page, http://www.nwrenalnetwork.org/CfC/CfC.htm, and our Survey page,
http://www.nwrenalnetwork.org/CfC/Survey.htm.
There are earlier articles on Conditions for Coverage and on
Survey and Certification.
Palliative Care Online Seminars Begin November 3
On November 3, a series of online seminars (“Webinars”) will begin. The series is titled Professional Responsibility & Palliative Care: Case Studies on Shared Decision
Making for Dialysis Patients, and the November 3 session will be on “Resolving Conflicts with Families over Stopping Dialysis.” The series is sponsored by the
Mid-Atlantic Renal Coalition, WVU School of Medicine, WV Center for End-of-Life Care, and the Kidney End-of-Life Coalition. The presentations are appropriate for
physicians, nurses, patient care technicians, social workers and palliative care clinicians who care for kidney patients at the end of life. CEUs are offered.
Registration deadline is October 28. Find full details and a registration form at
http://www.nwrenalnetwork.org/N/ResPalReg1111.pdf. For more information on the series, see
http://www.kidneyeol.org/News/Continuing-Education.aspx.
There are earlier articles on Professional Meetings and on
End of Life.
Recall of Additional Lee Medical Custom Dialysis Trays/Kits
The FDA has added to the list of recalled products, brands, and lots of Lee Medical Custom Dialysis Trays and Kits. For details see
http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/Safety/RecallsCorrectionsRemovals/ListofRecalls/ucm274192.htm.
There are earlier articles on Iodine Prep Products.
AAKP Educational Sessions on CKD, ESRD, and Transplant
The American Association of Kidney Patients has placed online the educational sessions from their August 2011 National Convention.
They include a track for CKD, one for Dialysis, and one for Transplantation. Half of the sessions are video, and half slides (PowerPoint or pdf).
Topic Index Page updated April 20, 2012