Top stories from Healio Nephrology: Across the COVID-19 spectrum
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Healio Nephrology previously compiled a list of our top stories related to the safe delivery of dialysis treatments during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here, we broaden the scope, including stories on telenephrology; an artificial-intelligence based tool to predict adverse events; spiking rates of acute kidney injury; and emergency support from the HSS, the American Kidney Fund and major dialysis providers.
Guest Commentary by Gaurav Jain, MD, and Eric Wallace, MD: COVID-19 and telenephrology: Lessons to learn from a global health care crisis
In the day-to-day battle of COVID-19, telehealth has emerged as an unlikely hero. However, the details of telehealth implementation and impact on staff and patients alike are still to be determined and are particularly important with respect to the care of nephrology patients.
The beneficiaries of telehealth programs are different based on the implementation strategy and targeted goal of the project. Poor planning without examining staff roles and views will have a long-lasting detrimental effect on the success of telehealth, while programs that are planned and implemented with consideration could stand to change the way we practice nephrology forever. Read more.
Artificial intelligence-based tool being tested to predict adverse kidney events in patients with COVID-19
The artificial intelligence-enabled clinical diagnostic for kidney disease, known as KidneyIntelX, will be used in a study to determine its predictive ability to assess the risk of adverse kidney events in patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Read more.
In COVID-19 fight, AKI becomes new battle front
At Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City, which accounts for more than 10,000 deaths in the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Osama El Shamy, MD, works with other nephrologists and medical staff trying to make sense of why a growing percentage of patients experience acute kidney injury after being hospitalized.
“We have had a number of COVID-19 patients who develop AKI,” El Shamy, a third-year nephrology fellow at Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine, told Nephrology News & Issues. “In a matter of days, we may see a creatinine of one go to ... as high as 13.” Read more.
HHS sends dialysis machines to hospitals with high cases of COVID-19; Fresenius ships equipment from Europe
HHS has deployed 50 Tablo portable kidney dialysis machines and supplies to New York City and Long Island ICUs caring for patients with COVID-19 who have also experienced acute kidney injury, according to an agency press release.
The dialysis machines, made by Outset Medical, came from the Strategic National Stockpile, which is managed by the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response of HHS. HHS signed an agreement with Outset Medical in 2019 to provide dialysis machines during disasters. Read more.
Q&A: AKF president discusses COVID-19 emergency fund
On March 20, the American Kidney Fund launched a COVID-19 emergency fund to provide financial assistance to low-income patients on dialysis or who have undergone kidney transplantation. The funding was quickly exhausted due to the large number of applications the organization received. After “appealing to corporations, foundations and individual donors to replenish the fund,” the AKF reported it has received donations from three corporations. Read more.
Despite COVID-19 costs, DaVita to return $240 million from federal relief fund
DaVita Inc. absorbed higher dialysis-related expenses due to COVID-19 in March and April but has decided it will return approximately $240 million it secured from a federal government relief fund aimed at helping businesses recover costs resulting from the virus.
“DaVita has been and will be able to continue to provide care for our patients, including the uninsured, without the need for this federal funding,” DaVita Inc. CEO Javier J. Rodriguez said during a May 5 earnings call. Read more.