Select Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) are now partnering with community representatives, primary care physicians, nephrologists and vascular surgeons to improve care for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) to prevent or slow the progression of the disease. QIOs partner with health care providers, consumers and stakeholder groups to refine care delivery systems to make sure all persons - particularly those from underserved populations - get the right care at the right time. The new pilot project is funded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
 
Organizers are confident that better care for kidney patients can mean a better quality of life and less reliance on drugs, dialysis and hospitalization. The project promotes early detection of CKD and proper medication treatment to slow the progression of the disease. It also addresses the need for patients who suffer from ESRD to have safer, higher-quality access to dialysis through a fistula. Fistulas make life better by reducing serious infections and complications that lead to hospitalizations and mortality often associated with other forms of vascular access for kidney patients. Fistulas are associated with less rework and complications requiring hospitalization. Medicare costs for CKD and End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) exceed $70 billion annually according to United States Renal Data System (USRDS) data. The savings to Medicare for each patient who avoids dialysis is estimated to be $288,000.
 
Contact Robin Weil, MSHA, RN, CPHQ (rweil@vaqio.sdps.org) or Monet Carnahan RN, CDN (mcarnahan@qsource.org) for more information.

This article originally appeared in the May 2009 issue of Renal Flash.