DMI Podcasts: 2019 Year in Review

In 2019, DaVita Medical Insights published a number of informative podcasts, in which nephrology experts discussed a variety of interesting topics. As the year comes to a close and a new year is about to start, it may be worth the time for another listen—or a first listen, in case you missed hearing any of these. For your convenience, we list all the 2019 podcasts, along with a link to and summary of each, below.

• Case Study on Palliative Care for a Patient with End Stage Renal Disease– Palliative care, although sometimes associated with negative connotations, can simply be defined as care that bridges the gap between certain transitions of a patients’ clinical status, which may or may not lead to hospice. In this podcast, Denea Hart, MSW, David Roer, MD, and Amanda Locke, RN, review a case study that involves key considerations for kidney disease patients who are facing palliative care.

• Collaboration Between Dialysis and Kidney Transplant Teams– Dialysis and transplant teams face challenges that may affect patients on their transplant journey or their abilities to get on waitlists. In this podcast, Jill Rankin interviews Chief Medical Officer of DaVita Integrated Care Bryan Becker, MD, and Transplant Surgeon Adam Bingaman, MD, on how communication and collaboration between dialysis, nephrology, and transplant teams are keys to overcome these challenges and provide transplant patients with the best possible care. Drs. Becker and Bingaman also discuss innovation and quality in the transplant space.

• Health Care Technology: Designing a Positive User Experience– When it comes to health care technology that supports physicians, it is imperative to understand physicians and their workflows to provide solutions that help meet their needs. Michelle Lassen interviews Adam Weinstein, MD, and Liane Poloski in this podcast on approaches to developing technology that supports physicians and ultimately makes a difference for their patients.

• Nursing Shortage– Currently, the United States is on a trajectory to experience a very significant nursing shortage, perhaps the worst the country has ever seen. Christy Diehl interviews Mandy Hale, RN, vice president of nursing at DaVita, in this podcast on the nursing shortage in nephrology. They discuss ways the shortage can affect patients and care teams, as well as cover strategies to address this concern.

• Use of Social Media in Nephrology– In this podcast, Bob Provenzano, MD, chief medical officer for Nephrology Practice Solutions and vice president of medical affairs for DaVita Kidney Care interviews Samira Farouk, MD, transplant nephrologist and social media enthusiast on how social media can revolutionize patient care, on both clinical and academic levels. Drs. Provenzano and Farouk discuss how the global nephrology community can be accessed through social media for clinical insights and to learn how medicine is practiced around the world.

• Home Dialysis First– “Home first” has become a slogan in the nephrology community, but what does that slogan mean? In this podcast, Ashley Henson interviews Mamatha Gandhi, MD, on how Dr. Gandhi has implemented the culture of home first into her practice and how she became a champion for home dialysis. Dr. Gandhi also discusses some of the challenges in starting a home program and the tools needed to make such a program successful.

• Innovation in Kidney Care– Implementation science is an important part of innovation in health care. Hunter Barnett interviews Mahesh Krishnan, MD, MPH, MBA, FASN, in this podcast on what implementation science is and the successes that have been seen in implantation science for the kidney care community. They also discuss additional innovation opportunities—beyond implementation science—that are expected in the future within kidney care.

• Hurricane Harvey and Disaster Planning– In 2017, the flood waters from Hurricane Harvey paralyzed the entire infrastructure of the city of Houston, Texas, causing many dialysis units to close. However, a DaVita center not only remained open but became a major response center for the area, treating many patients who had not dialyzed for several days. Ashley Henson interviews Steve Fadem, MD, medical director of the Houston Kidney Center and the DaVita Integrated Service Network, in this podcast on his experience planning for and executing the plan in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, as well as other storms.

• Home Is Where the Start Is– Patients with ESKD who start on home dialysis typically have improved outcomes and experience a better quality of life compared with patients who start with in-center hemodialysis. Ashley Henson interviews Jose Sibal, MD, in this podcast on the benefits patients starting treatment at home may experience and the factors that helped his home dialysis program to grow exponentially. Dr. Sibal also discusses the biggest obstacle to success in developing a home program.

• Innovations and Reducing Barriers to Kidney Transplants– “We are very far from parity and equality in terms of access to kidney transplant,” says Samira Farouk, MD. In this podcast, Dr. Farouk and Sam Kant, MD, discuss the history of kidney transplants, the current barriers and some of the patient populations that are most affected by the disparities in the system. They also talk about potential solutions for the future with the advent of new options and technologies.

• Innovations in Transplantation– In this podcast, Allen Nissenson, MD, chief medical officer of DaVita and emeritus professor of Medicine at UCLA and Gabriel Danovitch, MD, medical director of the Kidney Transplant Program and professor of medicine at UCLA discuss the current state of kidney transplantation and how that state can be improved through innovation. Drs. Nissenson and Danovitch also describe how nephrologists and providers can help patients be transplant ready. Finally, they discuss current developments in transplantation that may help the transplanted kidneys function better in the future, as well as the need for innovations in kidney disease prevention.

As 2020 approaches, we will have new conversations on some familiar topics, such as home dialysis, transplants, and technology and innovations. Also, stay tuned for new and reinvigorated topics to the DMI podcast, including competency hubs, patient-centered care and the nephrologist shortage. We hope you will be listening!