Specialty Care Management’s Post

Navigating the choice between at-home and in-clinic dialysis can be daunting, but understanding the differences is key to making the best decision for your health and lifestyle. 🩺💼 Our latest blog delves into Hemodialysis and Peritoneal Dialysis, offering insights on the pros and cons of each option. Whether you value the flexibility and independence of at-home treatments or the structured support of in-clinic sessions, we’re here to help you thrive on your dialysis journey. Dive in to empower your informed decision-making. 💡🏡🏥 Read our new blog here: https://lnkd.in/eDqKc-cz #DialysisCare #AtHomeDialysis #InClinicDialysis #KidneyHealth #PatientCare #HealthcareChoices #EmpowerYourHealth

How do you determine if a patient is a good fit for home dialysis? Learn how a nephrologist and a dedicated team at a center of a large dialysis organization revamped an assessment tool to help meet their goals — prioritizing a patient-centered care model and sending more patients home for therapy. Read the full article: https://bit.ly/4eIKZwJ

The article on the "Home-First" assessment tool highlights a key effort to promote home dialysis, an important step toward improving patient-centered care. However, the tool fails to address critical barriers related to Social Determinants of Health and Political Determinants of Health, and lacks cultural sensitivity, which is essential to prevent further socioeconomic inequalities among dialysis patients. While the tool aims to create a “Home-First” culture by assessing readiness for home dialysis, it doesn't fully account for SDoH such as financial stability, neighborhood conditions, education access, and social support networks. These factors greatly influence patients' ability to manage home dialysis, yet the tool appears to focus on clinical readiness without considering external socioeconomic and political barriers that often hinder access to home therapy. For example, a patient may be clinically eligible for home dialysis but face barriers like: Financial instability Inadequate housing Education and literacy gaps Lack of social support On the political side, policies around healthcare funding, social services, and even zoning laws shape a patient's ability to receive adequate care at home. These factors are absent in the tool’s design, leaving it detached from the broader realities of healthcare access in the U.S. Assessing only clinical readiness risks perpetuating systemic inequalities and marginalizing the most vulnerable patients. The tool’s one-size-fits-all approach also lacks cultural sensitivity, overlooking factors such as language barriers, health beliefs, and family roles. This can favor patients who fit within a specific socio-economic framework while sidelining others. By not considering these factors, the tool may inadvertently create further barriers for patients who already face SDoH challenges. Additionally, the lack of standardization across Large Dialysis Organizations is another issue. The tool isn't uniformly implemented across clinics, leading to inconsistency in patient care. Different clinics use varying criteria for assessing home dialysis readiness, creating unequal access and potentially biased outcomes depending on the clinic's resources and healthcare providers’ discretion. While the "Home-First" assessment tool was developed with the right intentions, it falls short in addressing the comprehensive needs of #dialysis patients. It overlooks key SDoH and PDoH factors, lacks cultural sensitivity, and isn't applied consistently across LDOs, further exacerbating disparities in care. Fresenius Medical Care Healio Gina Brockenbrough NxStage Medical, Inc.

DYK? Untreated #ChronicKidneyDisease can lead to patients needing resource-intensive care like kidney transplants or long-term dialysis. Diagnosing and treating #CKD in its early stages could reduce costs & preserve health systems’ resources, allowing investment to be redirected to other areas of need. Learn more: changeforkidneyhealth.com

Unlocking the full potential of home hemodialysis (HHD) requires a shift in how we approach dialysis care. A goal-driven strategy that prioritizes patient-centered, individualized treatment plans, showing how HHD can be more than just an alternative—it can help transform lives. As a company we continue to innovate in home dialysis, it’s important to remember the key to success: focusing on what matters most to patients. Read the full article to learn more about how goal-oriented care is helping more patients thrive: https://bit.ly/3I1iEmF

NxStage Medical, Inc. Are you even trying? Once again, we’re force-fed the same two ‘ambassadors’ on repeat, as if they somehow represent the entire #dialysis community. It’s insulting, lazy, and downright embarrassing. Does NxStage think we’re all idiots who can’t see through their shallow, one-dimensional marketing? Or are they just that out of touch? Your social media strategy is as stale as those tired, drained faces you keep parading around, pretending they’re ‘advocates.’ Give us a break. The dialysis community is diverse, struggling, and real—and we’re fed up watching the same few people endlessly shill your crappy products. This tired approach just shows us that NxStage couldn’t care less about real patients and our experiences. Instead, you stick with a couple of paid puppets to parrot empty praise for equipment that, frankly, isn’t impressing anyone. Are your social media writers even qualified, or are they straight out of high school, trained only to copy and paste? It’s obvious they have no idea how to engage a real community, so they recycle the same posts, thinking we won’t notice. Newsflash: we notice, and we’re over it. If you took one look around social media, you’d see what people actually think of your products and your one-trick marketing routine. Maybe it’s time for a change, NxStage—one that includes genuinely listening to patients instead of shoving the same phony, repetitive, hollow nonsense down our throats. Show some respect, or expect us to keep calling out your pathetic, lazy excuse for ‘engagement.’ We deserve better. Anyone supporting this sham of ‘representation’ by NxStage is just as out of touch. Backing NxStage’s pathetic, cookie-cutter PR only shows you’re willing to prop up a brand that ignores real patient voices and needs. #NextStageFail #DialysisDisrespect #LazyMarketing #TiredFacesTiredBrand #OutOfTouch #DialysisDeservesBetter #PhonyAdvocacy #DoBetterNextStage

Renalogic & Lyfebulb recently surveyed dialysis patients to highlight the challenges associated with this treatment. Our findings revealed that more than 50% of respondents had to cease employment due to complications arising from dialysis. These results underscore the significant impact that dialysis can have on an individual's life. While dialysis is undeniably a life-saving and life-extending treatment, it presents considerable clinical and emotional challenges for patients. Access the full report here: https://bit.ly/3MjUBBB #RenalogicCares #Dialysis #ChronicKidneyDisease

Exciting to see the Lyfebulb team at work, connecting with people undergoing dialysis. Dialysis is a necessary life-sustaining treatment for people with kidney failure who do not have access to a kidney transplant. While it is important for extending lives, we should not overlook the challenges that come with this form of treatment. As a clinician, I am always focused on optimizing health and quality of life at every stage of a health journey. Learning from patients is key to making that happen. #dietitian #registereddietitian #dialysis #chronickidneydisease #qualityoflife

NxStage Medical, Inc. are you even listening? We’re sick to death of seeing the same tired, fake, overly staged shots of the Bates plastered everywhere like they’re the only people doing home dialysis. Is this all your ‘social media team’ can come up with? Honestly, it’s like your writers have the creativity of a monkey and the depth of a puddle. This isn’t a real representation of the #dialysis community—it’s a lazy, shallow attempt to sell a lie, and it’s beyond insulting. Here’s what your cozy little PR stunt won’t show: 👉 Crippling Fatigue: Not a ‘peaceful rest’ in a recliner but exhaustion that makes it hard to even move. 👉 Constant Pain: From needle insertions to relentless cramping, it’s nothing your fake smiles can hide. 👉 Nausea and Vomiting: Daily reality, not a camera-ready moment. 👉 Depression and Anxiety: There’s no mental health support in your posts, just phony happiness. 👉 Skin Issues: Dry, flaky, and painful—not that airbrushed nonsense. 👉 Dizziness: Dialysis leaves us unsteady and weak, not ‘relaxed’ in cozy chairs. 👉 Bleeding and Infection Risks: Open access points mean serious risk, not the sanitized fantasy you peddle. 👉 Insomnia: Dialysis isn’t peaceful—it’s sleepless nights and restless exhaustion. 👉 Isolation: Hours alone, unable to socialize—not your ‘community’ of paid actors. NxStage, stop wasting everyone’s time with this stale, cookie-cutter garbage. And to your social media team—maybe find someone qualified for a change, someone who knows what real patient experience looks like. We’re done with this shallow, rinse-and-repeat trash. Show some respect to your actual users, or get ready for us to keep calling out your pathetic attempts at ‘engagement.’ #NxStageSham #FakeAdvocatesFail #LazySocialMedia #UnqualifiedWriters #TiredOfTheBates #RealDialysisVoicesNeeded

When a 2022 province-wide review revealed inconsistencies in the home dialysis referral process across various dialysis programs, BC Renal began actualizing a plan to standardize the referral pathway provincially. First launched in 2023, this three-phase initiative seeks to increase the uptake of home dialysis and ensure adequate support for patients and health professionals, with a formal pathway now being unrolled province-wide. To learn more, check out our feature article, first published in the December issue of BC Renal News: https://ow.ly/RHOT50UxpSM #KidneyCare #KidneyHealth #KidneyDisease #Dialysis #HomeDialysis