The USRDS (United States Renal Data System) has released its data for 2007 and some of the results are disappointing. Forty-three percent of new end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients had not seen a nephrologist, 90 percent did not receive dietary counseling and 71 percent didn't receive erythropoietin-stimulating agents (ESAs) prior to dialysis. The ESRD population hit a new high with 527,283 patients but the number of new cases remained the same.
 
According to the report, "Planning for the transition to ESRD is poor, and the Medicare CKD education benefit, included in the 2008 Medicare Improvement for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA), needs to address the selection of patient modality and dialysis access, preventative kidney transplantation and cardiovascular risk factors."   

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