Network Services
End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD)
PROJECT
Comprehensive Kidney Care Quality Improvement
WHAT WE DID
Patient transition support and transplant facilitation
Setting
ESRD patients across 9-state service area
TIMELINE
2020 - Present
The Project
- Quality Insights operates as the ESRD Network serving nine states and territories, working systematically to improve quality and access to kidney care for one of Medicare's most vulnerable patient populations.
- Our comprehensive approach addresses the full spectrum of kidney care, from dialysis management to transplant preparation, recognizing that end-stage renal disease patients require coordinated support across multiple healthcare settings and providers.
- Our program focuses on three critical areas that significantly impact patient outcomes and quality of life: transitioning patients to home dialysis modalities when appropriate, facilitating access to kidney transplantation, and ensuring patients receive comprehensive evaluation for transplant eligibility.
- Each of these focus areas requires intensive care coordination, patient education, and collaboration with healthcare providers across the care continuum spanning West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, District of Columbia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Challenges
- Complex medical management requirements for ESRD patients with multiple comorbidities
- Geographic barriers to accessing specialized kidney care services in rural areas
- Patient reluctance to transition from familiar in-center dialysis to home modalities
- Limited availability of kidney transplant centers and long waiting lists
- Insurance coverage complexities for different dialysis modalities and transplant services
- Need for extensive patient and family education on treatment options
- Coordination challenges across multiple healthcare providers and specialists
The Results
- Since 2020, our ESRD Network achieved remarkable success in improving outcomes for kidney patients across our nine-state service area.
- We successfully transitioned nearly 9,000 patients to home dialysis modalities, providing them with greater flexibility, independence, and often improved clinical outcomes compared to in-center dialysis, while helping more than 7,000 dialysis patients receive kidney transplants – the gold standard treatment for end-stage renal disease that offers the best long-term outcomes and quality of life.
- Additionally, we added approximately 9,000 dialysis patients to kidney transplant waitlists, ensuring they had access to this life-saving treatment option when organs became available.
- These achievements represent not just statistical successes but thousands of individual patients whose lives were dramatically improved through better access to optimal kidney care treatments, demonstrating the power of coordinated network services in addressing the complex needs of patients with chronic kidney disease.