July | 2020
July | 2020
QIA Participation Updates
This monthly communication is part of the Treatment Choice Champions Quality Improvement Activity (TCC QIA). Use these tools and resources to drive change in your facility when promoting the best modality option for ESRD patients.

ESRD Network 12 is closely watching the COVID-19 pandemic and we continue to actively participate on the national and regional levels with ESRD patients and providers. The Network team understands that your facility may be greatly impacted by the increased demand for patient care and overall clinic operations. If so,
please  email us  for facility COVID-19 impact updates.
 
The Network will continue to provide you education on home dialysis and kidney transplant to support patient education and modality choice. For information on how Network 12 is supporting COVID-19 visits us online at  www.ESRDNetwork12.org .
Advancing the Use of Home Dialysis
When you approach a patient about dialysis options, the subject can get a bit overwhelming. Each person interprets information at different levels. When you take the time to identify the best way for a patient to learn something new, you could be the difference to make a better experience.

Intervention: Take the time to speak with patients and their caregivers, provide them information, and answer any questions they may have. Inform the patient about the process it takes to make sure that the treatment option is right for the patient.
Increasing Patients on the Transplant Waitlist
Knowing the facts of living donor kidney transplant is very important. Begin the conversation about living donor transplant options with your patients and caregivers to help increase the knowledge and communication for their kidney transplant options.

Intervention: Share the list of Transplant Centers in Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri with your patients and staff. By providing education on available options to patients through knowledge sharing, patients are given the opportunity to explore which center may best fit their needs to begin the Road to Transplant.
Let's Talk Transplant Webinar-Featuring University of Missouri Transplant Team
The interdisciplinary team at University of Missouri Transplant Team shared information you need to know before referring your patients to their Transplant Center including the referral process, transplant evaluation, multi-listing, selection criteria and more. The recording of Let's Talk Transplant-Featuring University of Missouri Transplant is now available.
Patient and Family Engagement
CMS has provided guidance for patient engagement and advocacy activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All patient engagement and advocacy activities such as peer mentoring, attending support groups and participating in QAPI and Plan of Care meetings, should be done so virtually, over the telephone, online or thru another distant, non-person to person format to limit patient exposure risk.

However, it should not prevent facilities from engaging with their patients to help improve the patient experience including identifying and/or working with a Network Patient Representative (NPR). A NPR can be a great sounding board for ideas and can help provide the patient perspective as the team works through the challenges of COVID19 and QIA efforts.
In 2019, those facilities with a NPR had better results! Please review the following resources to learn more about what you can do to get and/or work with your NPR. Visit our website to watch our Partnering Together webinar to learn more about how the NPR program can benefit your facility!
COVID-19 Updates
Telligen Long Term Care (LTC) Office Hours
End-Stage Renal Disease and COVID-19, Prevalence Communication and Challenges
Please join us to hear from End-Stage Renal Disease Networks 10, 12, 13 and 15 covering Iowa, Illinois, Colorado and Oklahoma. The Networks will talk about how COVID-19 has impacted the dialysis populations in these regions and present a communication tool to increase communication between long term care and dialysis centers. We will answer questions from participants regarding barriers or opportunities to improve relations with dialysis centers.

Date: July 16 | Time: 2 p.m. CT | Register Here
New Network Resource: Change in Condition Alert

Dialysis patients coming from long term care facilities are at especially high risk for infections and factors that complicate the containment of illnesses, like COVID-19. We are piloting a new communication tool to serve as a "Heads Up" alert to share between teams at facilities that provide care. The intent of the form is to quickly share new instances of respiratory illness, disease or COVID-19 at either a patient or a facility level which would then lead to additional communications and inform the care team of the appropriate and safe treatment for the patient. We hope that you find this tool useful. Please share your thoughts with the Network Quality Improvement Team by email .

Visit ESRD Network 12 online to keep up-to-date with the latest on
COVID-19 resources and education.
This presentation was created, while under contract with Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Baltimore, Maryland. Contract #HHSM-500-2016-NW012C. The contents presented do not necessarily reflect CMS policy. 20.Q-ESRD12.06.039
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