When Disaster Strikes: Help for Patients Who Rely on Durable Medical Equipment

When durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies (DMEPOS) are lost, destroyed, or damaged to the extent that they can’t be used anymore due to an emergency, Medicare

will pay for the replacement DMEPOS that a Medicare beneficiary owns or purchased. Examples of DMEPOS include: home oxygen equipment, diabetes testing supplies, wheelchairs, canes, walkers, artificial limbs, braces, and enteral nutrients and supplies. The link below can help you guide medically vulnerable patients should an emergency cause them to lose use of DMEPOS.

https://www.cms.gov/About-CMS/Agency-Information/Emergency/Downloads/Emergency-DME-Beneficiaries-Hurricanes.pdf

What Your Patients Should Know About the Flu Vaccine

Influenza (flu) is a serious disease that can lead to hospitalization and even death. Vaccination is an important preventative tool for people with chronic health conditions such as renal failure. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends a yearly flu vaccine as the most important step of protection against the flu. Flu vaccination can reduce flu related illness. Additionally, flu vaccination decreases patients’ chances of catching the flu and possibly infecting family members, friends, fellow patients and staff at the dialysis clinic. Flu vaccination has also been shown to reduce hospitalizations among people with diabetes (79%) and chronic lung diseases (53%). Flu vaccination may also lessen the intensity of the flu if you do get sick.

Vaccines reduce the risk of infection by working with the body’s natural defenses to help it safely develop immunity to the disease. The body’s immune response declines over time, and each flu season is different. Therefore an annual vaccine is needed to provide ideal protection. Additionally, because the flu virus constantly changes, the vaccine is reformulated each year to keep up with the changing viruses.

The CDC recommends that everyone six months of age and older receive the flu vaccine Additionally, anyone living with and/or caring for dialysis or transplant patients should get the flu vaccine.

Dialysis and transplant patients should not take nasal spray flu vaccines; and patients who have received a transplant within the previous six months should check with their renal care team concerning the flu shot.

Flu season starts in November. It takes about two weeks for the body to develop protection to the flu. Therefore, it’s best to get vaccinated by the end of October, before flu season starts.

 

CDC Preventive Steps: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/consumer/prevention.htm

CDC Key Facts About Seasonal Flu Vaccine: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/keyfacts.htm

The CMS Data Quality Goals

In 2016 CMS introduced the CROWNWeb Data Quality Goals to improve the overall timeliness, accuracy and completeness of patient data entered in CROWNWeb by dialysis facilities and transplant centers.

The CMS Data Quality Goals support the overarching CMS goal of “Putting Patients First” and seek to improve data timeliness on tasks performed in CROWNWeb as shown in the table below.

The Network will continue to encourage and support dialysis providers in attaining higher compliance levels. Please ensure that missing data identified in the CROWNWeb facility dashboard are addressed on weekly basis. For more information, please see http://mycrownweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/April-Town-Hall-4-26.17-508.pdf.

The Network also sends missing data reports on monthly basis. Please address any data issues raised by the Network immediately.

It is that time of the year! Dialysis Facility Reports and Master Account Holder Information

The Dialysis Data website is used to perform the following activities:

  1. Updating Master Account Holder (MAH) information (use facility CCN as username and MAH password for log in).
  2. Adding/editing users and granting permissions (use facility CCN as username and MAH password for log in).
  3. Accessing Dialysis Facility Report (DFR) and Quarterly Dialysis Facility Compare Report (QDFC) (use individual user email address as username and the password established by the individual user for log in).

To access Dialysis Facility Reports and Quarterly Dialysis Facility Compare Reports, visit www.dialysisdata.org. Click here for help logging in.

Ethics: Professional Boundaries in Healthcare

A code of ethics is the blueprint for professional behavior, and it provides employees with principles of conduct. Those principles guide professionals through their daily interactions within the workplace and help set clear expectations for the organization. One of the key components of a code of ethics is the need for professional boundaries, especially in a healthcare setting. ESRD healthcare professionals work closely with patients on a daily basis, and often face ethical dilemmas in which they may experience a conflict between their professional responsibility and personal feelings. The National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) and the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) provide guides to help healthcare professionals practice ethically to prevent boundary lines from becoming blurred.

Vocational Rehabilitation Resources: The Ticket to Work Program

One of the Network’s quality improvement activities (QIA) in 2018 focuses on efforts to support the gainful employment of ESRD patients ages 18-54 who are not currently enrolled in vocational rehabilitation or accessing services.

Each facility participating in the QIA has been asked to conduct a vocational rehabilitation (VR) audit for all patients in CROWNWeb to identify eligibility, interest in VR, documentation of referral, and utilization of services.

To help accomplish goals of the QIA, the Social Security Administration’s Ticket to Work program can provide information for patients about returning to work without losing their disability benefits. The website includes valuable resources:

  • Employment Network’s search tool
  • Success Stories to support patient referral efforts
  • Past and upcoming webinars
  • Blog that provides daily updates on the program

 

Using the National Health and Safety Network (NHSN) as a Resource in your Infection Control Efforts.

Bloodstream infections (BSIs) are the second leading cause of death in dialysis patients according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Healthcare practitioners can prevent many of these infections by following basic infection guidelines (CDC Core Interventions) and tracking the results. The CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), the nation’s most widely used healthcare-associated infection tracking system, provides facilities, states, regions, and the nation with data needed to identify problem areas, measure progress of prevention efforts, and ultimately eliminate healthcare-associated infections. Visit the NHSN website for information on training, protocols, forms, support materials, resources and FAQs related to surveillance of BSI events, prevention measures, and vaccination information for facility staff members and patients.

ESRD QIP Ultrafiltration: Longer Dialysis Treatments

Assuring that ESRD patients receive the appropriate amount of renal replacement therapy at a rate that allows them to feel well and prevent adverse reactions is the ultimate goal for nephrologists. As defined by the National Kidney Foundation’s Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (KDOQI), Clinical Practice Guideline for Hemodialysis Adequacy, the upper limit a patient should dialyze is 13 millimeters per hour per kilogram of body weight. Patients who dialyze at increased ultrafiltration rates are at greater risk for a cardiovascular event [1]. There are documented clinical benefits for patients who have longer and slower dialysis treatment [2]. Many clinics now offer nocturnal hemodialysis options to their patients so they can dialyze longer and slower while sleeping [3]. Facilities that do not offer a nocturnal program may want to consider increasing scheduled treatment times to ensure that patients are meeting their 1.2 Kt/V clearance goals and  maintaining an ultrafiltration rate of 13ml/hr/kg or slower.

REMINDER: Ultrafiltration rate reporting is a new requirement for the 2018 CMS Quality Incentive Program.

To read more, please click on the links below:

[1] https://www.ajkd.org/article/S0272-6386(15)01019-7/fulltext
[2] Chazot, C. MD, Guillaume, J. MD (2009). “The Advantages and Challenges of Increasing the Duration and Frequency of Maintenance Dialysis Sessions.” Nature Clinical Practice Nephrology
[3] Glickman, J. (2012, April 27). Stunning Consequences of Thrice-Weekly In-center Dialysis

 

 

 

The Seven Step Journey Towards Kidney Transplant

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has incorporated in the 2018 transplant quality improvement activity (QIA) a series of standardized steps toward transplant. According to the 2012 Clinical Journal of American Society of Nephrology article, “Impact of Navigators on Completion of Steps in the Kidney Transplant Process: A Randomized, Controlled Trial,” these steps were first defined and performed in 23 hemodialysis facilities in Ohio. The steps are: (1) Suitability for Referral to Transplant Center; (2) Interest in Transplant; (3) Referral Call to Transplant Center; (4) First Visit to Transplant Center; (5) Transplant Center Workup; (6) Successful Transplant Candidate; (7) On Waiting List or Evaluating Potential Living Donor.

Research has identified that the guidance offered by a transplant navigator –or mentor- helps patients move further and faster through the seven steps than they would without a navigator. If you are interested in starting a Peer Mentorship Program at your facility, contact the Network.

Update Admit/Discharge Records in CROWNWeb!

Patients should be admitted / discharged in CROWNWeb within 5 business days of their first treatment and within 5 business days of their last treatment at a Medicare-certified dialysis facility.

 

See Page 31 of the CROWNWeb Data Management Guidelines for details.

To send a help desk ticket to the Network: support@iproesrdnetwork.freshdesk.com

Looking for resources on depression and mental health?

The National Forum of ESRD Networks’ Kidney Patient Advisory Council (KPAC) has developed the Dialysis Patient Depression Toolkit. Created by patients for patients, with important contributions by professionals, this toolkit was is designed to help patients who feel that they may be experiencing depression. It also offers facility staff guidance in providing hope and assistance to patients with mental health concerns. The toolkit also addresses anxiety, sleepiness, substance abuse and more. It provides coping skills for patients, whether or not they are currently working with a professional in these areas of mental health, as well as resources and contact information for those individuals interested in more information about how to find help.

Cultural Competency in the ESRD Community

Cultural competence in healthcare describes the ability to provide care to patients with diverse values, beliefs and behaviors, including tailoring healthcare delivery to meet patients’ social, cultural and linguistic needs[1]

Dialysis facilities can improve their cultural competence by providing education about diverse populations to staff members.  This can assist to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in care.

Some of the benefits of cultural competence include:
  • An increase mutual respect and understanding between patient and the organization
  • Increases participation and involvement in health issues
  • Reduces care disparities in the patient population
  • Reduces the number of missed treatments

[1] American Hospital Association and Institute for Diversity in Health Management. (2012, June). Diversity and Disparities: A Benchmark Study of U.S. Hospitals. Chicago: IL. Accessed at www.hpoe.org