Home Dialysis News

Medicare administrative contractor Wisconsin Physicians Services, one of seven contractors that proposed payment restrictions more than a year ago for more frequent dialysis, released revised language last month retracting the restrictions.

According to recently published results, home hemodialysis treatment centers may impact technique failure and patient mortality independent of case-mix.

Propensity scores are useful in controlling for measured confounding in observational studies of medical treatments or risk factors, but neither propensity score methods nor multivariable regression analysis can control for unmeasured confounding, according to a recently published paper.

Recently published results showed medical complications and frailty may be driving factors for the high rate of hemodialysis withdrawals before death found in a single center.

A model on the implementation of an antimicrobial stewardship program in outpatient dialysis facilities predicted a substantial decrease seen in infection caused by multidrug-resistant organisms and Clostridium difficile, infection-related mortality and costs.

Older patients are at a high risk for developing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease after initiation of hemodialysis, according to new research appearing in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology. Researchers also found that dementia in dialysis patents is linked with a higher risk for early death.

“We cannot change what we are not aware of, and once we are aware, we cannot help but change.” – Sheryl Sandberg

Veterans who initiated dialysis with a Veterans Health Administration dialysis provider appeared to have lower mortality rates, but experienced increased hospitalization rates compared to veterans who initiated dialysis at non-Veteran Health Administration facilities, according to research appearing in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Patient advocates and Ohio dialysis caregivers expressed their opposition to a proposed constitutional amendment on dialysis filed July 4 with the Ohio Secretary of State by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, which seeks to pass a similar ballot issue in California this fall.

Patients with anemia in the setting of end-stage renal disease commonly require treatment with an erythropoiesis-stimulating agent. Therapeutic options for the management of anemia have expanded with the development of new formulations of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents.