ALBANY, Ga. - Aug. 20, 2018 - PRLog -- It is widely known that the quality of dialysis a patient receives is influenced by the type of vascular access used in hemodialysis. Patients using catheters are identified as having a higher risk for mortality, fatal infections, and cardiovascular events. This is why dialysis providers work with patients to avoid placing hemodialysis catheters if feasible, or replace them as soon as possible with a fistula or graft.
Patients at Dialysis Clinic, Inc. (DCI) in Sylvester, Georgia, have been working with the care team to reduce their overall catheter rate as well as their percent of patients with catheters that are 90 days old or greater. In October of 2017, DCI Sylvester experienced their highest number of patients with catheters, showing 12.8% of patients with catheters and 10% of those were greater or equal to 90 days old. In July of 2018, they achieved their lowest catheter rate in the past twelve months with 3.4% of patients with catheters and an impressively low 1.8% of patients with a catheter greater than or equal to 90 days old.
The medical director, Mufaddal Kheda, MD, attributes the successful catheter reduction in part to the ESCOs stating, "DCI Sylvester became an ESCO clinic at the start of 2018. Now we see a beautiful improvement in our 90-day catheter rate. It is now 1.8%. Thank you to our care coordinators and the entire DCI Sylvester team for their dedication and care for our patients. This proves the ESCO works."
DCI Sylvester participates in the Georgia Pines Kidney Care Alliance, an End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Seamless Care Organization (ESCO). The ESCO is part of the Comprehensive ESRD Care (CEC) Model designed to identify, test, and evaluate new ways to improve care for Medicare beneficiaries with ESRD under the guidance of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
"DCI Sylvester staff talk to each patient about practical steps that can be taken to ensure high quality dialysis. We know that the use of a fistula provides a better blood flow rate than a catheter and has less complications," explained Jessica Toomer, RN, DCI Sylvester Nurse Manager. "You'll see our nurses and certified care hemodialysis technicians reviewing education sheets with patients about access care and use. We also have a wonderful vascular access team that monitors all accesses and encourages patients to follow up with their vein mapping appointments. We'll do whatever it takes to make sure our patients receive quality dialysis!"
The collaboration among staff, the addition of care coordinators, and consistent education are believed to be contributors to the improvement in the quality of care patients are receiving.
The ESCO gives providers a unique opportunity to take ownership of both the clinical and financial outcomes of each ESRD patient. The Georgia Pines Kidney Care Alliance is a partnership among the following health care providers:
· Dialysis Clinic, Inc.
· Nephrology Associates of Columbus, PC
· Southwest Georgia Nephrology Clinic, PC
· Renal Hypertension Clinic, PC
The benefits of being in the Georgia Pines Kidney Care Alliance for patients include:
• A dedicated care coordinator who assists with the coordination of care for patients as they move from one healthcare setting to the next
• Planning for vascular access placement and ongoing care
• Assistance in finding community-based services
• Medication therapy management (MTM) services delivered through a specialized clinical pharmacy services program, REACH MTM
• Various modalities of education that are tailored to meet the patient's needs
DCI manages six of the 37 ESCOs operating in the U.S. Learn more about these ESCOs at http://www.dciinc.org/escos/.
Contact
Jessica Emler
***@dciinc.org
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