Category: Treatment Options

National Living Donor Assistance Center

Many dialysis patients feel discouraged to ask a family member, caregiver or a friend to become their kidney donor as they fear creating a financial burden for them. Luckly, there are new bills and program expansions to help living donors with expenses and other financial challenges. One of these programs is the National Living Donor Assistance Center (NLDAC), which can help with living donor travel expenses, lost wages and dependent care expenses! Although the transplant center usually takes care of the living donor application, dialysis facility staff can help educate dialysis patients about this program for consideration of living donation.
To learn more about NLDAC, consider watching these recorded webinars:

April is National Donate Life Month

Celebrated in April each year, National Donate Life Month (NDLM) features an entire month of local, regional and national activities to help encourage Americans to register as organ, eye and tissue donors and to celebrate those that have saved lives through the gift of donation.
Here are some important facts about donation from the 2021 Donation and Transplantation Statistics from the Donate Life America Donor Designation Report and the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN):
  • More than 39,000 transplants brought renewed life to patients, families, and communities.
  • 7,000 people die each year because the organs they need are not donated in time.
  • 85% of patients on the waiting list are waiting for a kidney. The average waiting time is 3 to 5 years.
  • More than 165 million people are registered organ, eye and tissue donors.

95% of Americans support donation, but only 60% are registered — help bridge the gap! By registering to be an organ, eye and tissue donor in the National Donate Life Registry, you are helping to save lives and give hope to the more than 100,000 people in the United States currently waiting for lifesaving organ transplants. Any adult age 18 or older can register – regardless of age or medical history.

Advancing American Kidney Health (AAKH): 2020 Progress Report

On August 17, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a progress report and related press release on the Advancing American Kidney Health (AAKH) Initiative that was first announced in July 2019. The report highlights the public awareness activities launched by HHS relating to chronic kidney disease (CKD) and the voluntary kidney payment models for managing persons with late stage CKD and ESRD. With regard to the mandatory ESRD Treatment Choices (ETC) model, the progress report simply notes that the proposed rule was released in July 2019.

Webinar: Decision Making and Palliative Care for the Older Patient with ESRD

The Coalition for Supportive Care of Kidney Patients is hosting a webinar, Navigating the Landscape: Decision Making and Palliative Care for the Older Patient with ESRD, on January 24, 2019, from 12:00 – 1:00 PM ET.

Join Vanessa Grubbs, MD, for the third webinar in the series on kidney supportive care, a companion series to articles published in Nephrology News & Issues. Dr. Grubbs will present on the best case/worst case decision aid for use with older patients with ESRD.

The webinars are free, but advance registration is required.

New Priorities and Goals Planned for ESRD Stakeholders

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) National Quality Strategy (NQS) is a national effort to align public- and private-sector stakeholders to achieve better health and healthcare for all Americans. It was developed “through a transparent and collaborative process with input from a range of stakeholders. More than 300 groups, organizations, and individuals, representing all sectors of the health care industry and the general public, provided comments.”

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) contracts with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Networks to implement the NQS principles and HHS Secretary’s priorities in the ESRD community. Starting in December 2017, Networks will launch a set of new quality improvement activities, data reporting requirements, and educational programs that reflect updated priorities and goals.

HHS Secretary’s Priorities

  1. Reform, Strengthen, and Modernize the Nation’s Health Care System
  2. Protect the Health of Americans Where They Live, Learn, Work, and Play
  3. Strengthen the Economic and Social Well-Being of Americans Across the Lifespan
  4. Foster Sound, Sustained Advances in the Sciences
  5. Promote Effective and Efficient Management and Stewardship

CMS Goals

  1. Empower patients to make decisions about their health care
  2. Usher in a new era of state flexibility and local leadership
  3. Support innovative approaches to improve quality, accessibility, and affordability
  4. Improve the CMS customer experience