NEWS ARTICLES

When COVID-19 first began sweeping through our country last year, it quickly became apparent that minority groups were affected at frighteningly disproportionate rates. According to the CDC, Black Americans more frequently test positive for the coronavirus, have been more likely to be hospitalized with severe illness than White Americans, and die at greater rates. In fact, literature on the pandemic…

Quality improvement is a broad term as it applies to health care, and as a major payer for the End-Stage Kidney Disease Program, CMS has tinkered with efforts to influence clinical performance and reduces costs. Most recently, criticism has been leveled at the agency concerning the management of the ESRD Quality Incentive Program (QIP), a…

Initially launched in 2005, Kidney Care Partners is set to re-launch its Kidney Care Quality Alliance through which the organization will continue developing quality measures to improve care for patients receiving dialysis. Click here to read the full article on the Healio Nephrology News & Issues website.

Our country has faced significant public health challenges over the past year and a half. While in the U.S. the COVID-19 pandemic is beginning to come under control, another under-recognized epidemic has continued unabated. According to the latest statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 37 million Americans — or about 15 percent of the…

U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) have introduced an updated version of the Chronic Kidney Disease Improvement in Research and Treatment Act (S. 1971), which builds on previous success in increasing access to services for chronic kidney disease patients. Legislation introduced Wednesday enhances care through new technologies, provides access to Medigap programs for all end-stage renal…

Dialysis centers will get thousands of COVID-19 vaccine doses to vaccinate their patients and employees, the Biden administration announced Thursday. The doses will be provided directly to dialysis centers for patients who receive treatment at least three times a week. People on dialysis who contract COVID-19 are at greater risk for serious illness and death….

One year after Covid-19 was declared a national emergency in the United States, and with more than 525,000 Americans having lost their lives to it so far, the country is finally beginning to make progress toward getting a handle on this terrible pandemic, thanks to the distribution of several highly effective vaccines. The vaccine distribution system seems to…

As one of the most devastating healthcare crises in modern history, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated our nation’s ongoing battle with another deadly disease: kidney disease. In this past year, we’ve seen clear evidence that the millions of individuals with kidney disease are at much higher risk for contracting the novel coronavirus, being hospitalized, and…

With a vulnerable population, centralized care, and a strong system in place for other shots, dialysis providers argue that they should be part of the early rollout with higher prioritization for their patients. Click here to read the full article on the MedPage Today website.

As vaccines roll out, the threat of COVID-19 continues to loom large over those with kidney disease, especially for the millions of Americans living with chronic kidney disease (CKD), end-stage renal disease (ESRD), and kidney transplants. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced all of us in the medical community to confront a disease where we have…