Home Dialysis Central update
[Vol.6, No.2, February 27, 2009]
When you dialyze at home, you get to avoid some of the worst winter driving! Visit our Home Dialysis Central store for items to help you spread the word about home treatments. Order now & have your items in time for National Kidney Month.
Our webinars are back!
On Wednesday, March 18 (time TBD), Dr. John Agar will kick off our NEW free webinar series. Dr. Agar will answer some audience questions. To give him time to create slides, please submit your questions here by March 4. Watch your email box or our message boards for registration details. Seating is limited to the first 100 registrants.
Fresenius profits are up
Not all of the economic news is bad these days. Fresenius—one of our sponsors—just had a terrific quarter, with profits up 8.6%. (Maybe home dialysis helped!) Read more.
Northwest Kidney Centers wins gold seal of approval
An unannounced on-site review by the Joint Commission, which accredits hospitals and clinics, was good news for NKC—another sponsor. Read more.
Professionals: Free eBook about home treatment
A third sponsor, WellBound, offers an 11-page eBook about how home dialysis can meet patients' needs. (Registration required.) Read more.
Home dialyzors exempt from EPO dose limits
If you dialyze at home (PD or HD) and give yourself EPO, your clinic does NOT lose 25% of the payment if your Hb is over the target. Here's the Medicare policy.
Don't be fooled—nocturnal HD does improve quality of life!
Peter Laird, MD, exposes the story behind a recent journal paper claiming no quality-of-life benefit from nocturnal HD. The truth? The study was underpowered—and it DID find some QoL pluses. Read the article.
MD training: A barrier to home treatments
Nephrologists don't know enough about home dialysis and believe myths about who can use home treatments, concludes a new article. (Our MATCH-D tool can help).
Home HD in the news in Winston-Salem
Meet Arnold Lewinger—and his wife and pet dog—in this article and video segment about daily home HD. See how he does it! Watch the video.
Hope predicts a better adjustment to dialysis
How important is hope? A new study finds that hopeful people on dialysis were less anxious and depressed and had fewer symptoms. (We'd bet that home dialyzors are more hopeful.) Read the abstract.
HD frequency vs. length: Which matters most?
For toxin removal, are you better off with more frequent HD, or longer treatments? Turns out that longer HD removes significantly more creatinine & methylguanidine than standard or more frequent treatments—but the combination of BOTH was best (you knew we'd say that!) Read the abstract.
Icodextrin improved nutrition & inflammation in PD
Replacing glucose-based PD fluid with icodextrin led to 66% better fluid removal, significantly higher protein levels, and significantly lower levels of the inflammation marker CRP. Read the abstract.
Mary Ann Domingo had to make a decision
She chose CCPD—and has taken herself off the transplant list because peritoneal dialysis is still working so well for her. Read her story.
Topic of the month: New Medicare rules
A new Medicare rule change now requires clinics to tell people on dialysis about all of their treatment options. All clinics must follow this new rule as of Oct. 14, 2008. Read this month's original article, guest authored by Dr. Andrew King, Director of Home Dialysis Therapies of San Diego. Read more.
How soon can i get medicare, and how do i sign up?
Click here to learn the answers to this & other questions about Medicare payment for PD and home hemo.
Read all about it!
Review home dialysis-related news. This week's stories include:
- Hypertension drug dramatically reduces proteinuria in kidney disease patients
- Program for kidney disease patients effective for reducing serum phosphorus levels
- Study: Hypertension-associated kidney disease may be misnamed
- Measurement of kidney function in children with kidney disease improved
Featured link: Nephrology oral history project
Read or listen to interviews with 13 eminent nephrologists. Check it out!