Kidney Disease, Diabetes and Patient Empowerment

“Patient” is not a third-person word. Effective diabetes management does not come from the exam room, but rather from the living room, gym, dining room…

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3 Contemporary Initiatives for Diabetes-Related Renal Health

As the leading cause of end stage renal disease (ESRD), diabetes requires significant attention from the renal community—to prevent and manage diabetes before it leads…

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Understanding the CMS Five-Star Methodology Change

Five-Star Overview The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Five-Star Quality Rating System, implemented in January 2015, evaluates the quality of care provided by…

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Five-Star Works for Those Who Matter Most—Patients

Article summary Transparency is reshaping healthcare and empowering consumers in ways many did not think possible just a decade ago. In the dialysis industry, we…

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CAHPS: Understanding How Patients Perceive Their Care Experience

Calling a patient a customer can be off-putting for many of us. A patient seeks treatment from a physician for a medical condition and the…

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Kidney Patient-Centered Quality of Care, Part III: Key Participants Who Contribute to Quality Program Success

Whether operating a single dialysis facility or a large multi-facility organization, successful deployment of quality programs requires the full participation and support of patients, the…

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Kidney Patient-Centered Quality of Care, Part II: A Quality Framework for ESRD Patients

There is an urgent need to move beyond biochemical and surrogate outcomes to focus more on patient-centric care. Care coordination that incorporates nephrologist leadership as…

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Kidney Patient-Centered Quality of Care, Part I: The Healthcare Quality Environment

Series Introduction To understand how we think about quality in the delivery of end stage renal disease (ESRD) care and how we successfully implement programs…

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The Importance of Education for Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease

To say that I was not an early adopter of the Kidney Smart® patient education program is an understatement. When the program was first introduced…

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