DaVita® Medical Insights

What Matters Most: Patients’ Quality of Life

As nephrologists, we focus heavily—with good reason—on clinical metrics and protocols. That focus has brought meaningful results: According to the United States Renal Data System, dialysis patients are living longer on dialysis year over year However, sometimes the focus on metrics, compounded with what can seem like endless new regulations, requirements and impediments leave us feeling drained. This Thursday will be National Doctor’s Day. Let us take this week to remember the importance of the work we do as physicians, and to remember why most of us ultimately chose this career in the first place: to improve patient lives.

Take a moment from your busy schedule to watch this video and remember the crucial impact that a physician can have in a patient’s quality of life.

Allen R. Nissenson, MD, FACP, FASN, FNKF

Prolific author and renowned authority on kidney disease, Allen R. Nissenson, MD, is chief medical officer for DaVita Kidney Care and emeritus professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, where he has served as director of the dialysis program and associate dean. Dr. Nissenson is also co-chair of the Kidney Care Partners Quality Initiative. Dr. Nissenson served as a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow of the Institute of Medicine from 1994–1995 and worked in the office of the late Senator Paul Wellstone. He is a former president of the Renal Physicians Association (RPA), served on the RPA Board of Directors as a special advisor to the president and is a former president of the Southern California End-Stage Renal Disease Network. He is the author of more than 700 scientific papers and the editor of two dialysis textbooks, one in its fourth edition and the other just released in its 5th edition. Dr. Nissenson earned his medical degree from Northwestern University Medical School and is the recipient of various awards, including the AAKP Medal of Excellence award, the Lifetime Achievement Award in Hemodialysis and the National Kidney Foundation “Man of the Year” award. Twitter: @DrNissenson