June 2019 View as Webpage

Jeramy is a new member of the Medical Review Board and serves as a Patient Representative for Missouri. Jeramy’s kidney journey began 10 years ago and he currently does in-center hemodialysis. His advice for fellow patients is “Look forward to each day. Stay active. Most of all, stay strong in your faith.”

Have you completed the Annual Network Survey? If you have not already done so, please complete the survey now by clicking the survey button at the right.If you missed the Annual Network Council Meeting last month, you can listen to it online as well. Complete the Annual Network Survey Listen to the Annual Network Council Meeting

Free Webinar | Accreditation for ESRD Facilities Join ESRD Network 12 on June 18 at 10 a.m. CDT as we host the National Dialysis Accreditation Commission (NDAC) to learn more about the dialysis facility accreditation process. Read more heartlandkidney.org

Patient Engagement Resource Highlights Resources to help engage patients in their care including this month’s Topic of the Month, resources to plan ahead for next month and best practices shared by facilities in our Network! Read more heartlandkidney.org

Call for Nomination: Ardyth M. Boucher Legacy Award Do you know someone living with kidney disease who is an exceptional advocate for themselves and others? The Ardyth (Ardy) M. Boucher Legacy Award has been developed to recognize and celebrate a dialysis or transplant patient who is dedicated to... Read more heartlandkidney.org

Upcoming Events

ESRD NCC QIA LAN Call Series The ESRD NCC hosts a series of calls based on topics of the CMS Quality Improvement Activities (QIAs). These include: Blood Stream Infection (BSI), Home Modality, Transplant, and Depression. ALL ESRD are invited to these meetings because... Read more heartlandkidney.org

June NPR Connection Calls Topic: Fluid Matters Date: June 13 or June 14 Time: 1 p.m. CST Resource: Fluid Matters Fact Sheet Register to Join Online VIP: Peer-to-Peer Sharing Calls Topic: Home Dialysis Date: Wednesday, June 26 Time: 1-2 p.m. CT Please download and share the fliers with all of your patents! VIP: Patient Peers Talk about Home Dialysis VIP: Peer-to-Peer Sharing Call Series

For audio, you will need to also call-in using the following information for both calls. Phone: 888-537-7715 | Access Code: 885 90 323#

Patient Experience of Care Check out our updated Heartland Huddle concept sheets and use them to help facilitate a “team huddle” to improve communication and professionalism at your facility. In almost all of the grievances, the Network gets these two issues come up – Huddle Up to Improve Communication Series can help you and your team improve the patient experience of care.   Resource Highlight: Heartland Huddles

Quality Improvement Tools and Resources The National Forum of ESRD Networks has many toolkits available for your use! Please check them out here:  Kidney Transplant Home Dialysis Catheter Reduction Transitions of Care

Newest PAC Council Leadership | Mark Johnson & Mike Bronson Qsource ESRD Network 12 would like to announce and introduce you to our new Patient Advisory Council (PAC) leadership. Mark Johnson was elected as the PAC Chair and Mike Bronson as the PAC Vice Chair. Mark has been on the Network 12 PAC since... Read more heartlandkidney.org

How the Network and State Survey Agency Works Together Ever wonder what the difference is between the work of the Networks and the work of the State Survey Agencies? We have developed a letter endorsed by the Network and all four State Survey Agencies that we work with describing our partnership. Please review the letter and share with your team. As part of our collaboration activities, the Network has developed a questionnaire to identify what facilities in the Network are housed in a Nursing Home facility. Please click here to complete the three question report. Read the Letter

Monthly Action Required: New Process for Updating Facility Personnel Staff turnover is a common problem we all share in the dialysis world. Communicating with you effectively will help improve the results of our various shared quality improvement activities. As you know, maintaining patient data in the ESRD system (currently Crownweb) is mandated in the  Dialysis Conditions for Coverage  your organization agreed to when you were first certified by Medicare. That responsibility also extends to maintaining an accurate list of key personnel in Crownweb. All of the Network’s contact data is derived from the names and email addresses you maintain in Crownweb. Read More

CMS Releases 2020 Medicare Part D Final Rule On May 16, CMS released the 2020 final rule for Medicare Part D, codifying existing policy with regard to protected classes of drugs including immunosuppressives, thereby not implementing proposed changes with potential harm for transplant patients. Read more heartlandkidney.org

Did You Know? ESRD NCC Patient Grant Library The ESRD National Coordinating Center (NCC) has a Patient Grant Library. Patients who are looking to provide education or advocacy to other kidney patients can apply for grants and the Grant Library can help find funding resources. Help support... Read more heartlandkidney.org

REMEMBER: NHSN Data Deadlines

NHSN is the nation’s most widely used healthcare-associated infection tracking system. NHSN provides facilities, states, regions, and the nation with data needed to identify problem areas, measure the progress of prevention efforts, and ultimately eliminate healthcare-associated infections.

Facilities should: Review the NHSN Dialysis Event Protocol to ensure all data were correctly reported to NHSN. 3 Steps to Review Dialysis Event Surveillance Data Use the How to Create and Read an NHSN Report for CMS ESRD QIP guide to verify your facility has met the minimum CMS reporting requirements. Refer to the How to Create and Read an NHSN Report for Bloodstream Infections guide to review your facility’s bloodstream infection rates. Contact the NHSN Helpdesk ( nhsn@cdc.gov , subject line ‘Dialysis’) with any questions.

This month's KCER Watch Newsletter

Alert: Par Pharmaceutical, Inc. Issues Voluntary Nationwide Recall of One Lot of Mycophenolate Mofetil for Injection, USP

This resource was developed while under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Contract #HHSM-500-2016-00012C. The contents presented do not necessarily reflect CMS policy. 19.Q-ESRD12.06.122