Home Dialysis News

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Medicine’s Red Mountain Home Dialysis Training Unit is piloting a three-year telemedicine trial for peritoneal dialysis patients, funded by a $180,000 grant from Baxter International. Forty patients speak with their UAB Medicine physician via videoconference from their hometown county health department, where their blood will be drawn and sent for lab testing as part of a “virtual visit”. They will complete six monthly face-to-face visits and another six months of telemedicine evaluations for comparison.

A new study examined two classes of medications commonly prescribed to prevent cardiovascular events in end-stage renal disease patients on peritoneal dialysis and found no significant difference in outcomes.

Baxter International Inc.’s Revaclear dialyzer was associated with lower use of erythropoiesis-stimulating agent, according to an observational cohort study published online in the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs Journal.

Sales of dialysis products from Baxter International’s Renal division totaled $965 million in the second quarter, representing a 2% increase on a reported basis over last year, the company reported on July 26. Increased demand globally for continuous renal replacement therapies along with strong sales of peritoneal dialysis products contributed to growth in the quarter, the company said.

Editor’s Note: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released its 2017 proposed rule for the Prospective Payment System and Quality Incentive Program on June 24. Part of the rule included new language regarding payments for training for home dialysis and payments for more frequent hemodialysis. We asked NxStage Medical president Joseph Turk to comment on the proposed changes. You can download the complete rule here. Formal comments are due by Aug. 23.  

It’s lonely at the top.

Baxter Renal Care has pulled the plug on clinical trials in Canada and in the U.S. for its Vivia home hemodialysis machine.

Baxter International Inc.’s renal business president Jill Schaaf has stepped down, the company announced last month, placing Giuseppe Accogli, former region head for Baxter’s U.S. renal business, as interim president while the company completes its search to permanently fill the role. 

Two classes of blood pressure medications, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), are associated with a 16% lower risk of strokes, heart attacks and death in patients with end-stage renal disease who are undergoing peritoneal dialysis, a new study in the journal, Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation, reports.

Out of the ten largest U.S. dialysis providers, Satellite Healthcare has the largest number of its dialysis patients using home therapies.  In 2015, the company had more than 20% of its patients using home dialysis. In 2014, the total was almost 22%.  Kay Deck, VP Home Therapies and Clinical Services at Satellite Healthcare, told NN&I how the provider achieved that number, and why home dialysis is important.