The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) is a health organization that supports people with kidney disease through educational initiatives, policy reform, and medical care campaigns. In 2021, NKF launched Innovate Kidney Care, a campaign for patients receiving home dialysis treatment.
NKF, founded in 1950, supports research, creates clinical practice guidelines, and establishes useful education tools for patients diagnosed with kidney conditions. Improving medical care for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is among the foundation’s main priorities. CKD is an umbrella term for conditions that lead to gradual loss of kidney function. CKD affects more than 35 million Americans, and many more are at risk. Common causes of CKD include hypertension and diabetes.
After the onset of CKD, patients may experience a set of complications, such as high blood pressure, anemia, and nerve damage. If left untreated, CKD results in kidney failure, a life-threatening condition that requires urgent dialysis treatment or transplantation. Hemodialysis is an alternate way to clear waste products from the bloodstream after the kidneys lose their filtration ability. Patients on hemodialysis are connected to a dialyzer that acts as an artificial kidney. Dialyzers filter the blood and then send it back into circulation.
Trained professionals perform hemodialysis at medical facilities. The treatment is also available as an at-home therapy. Patients and their care partners cooperate to perform hemodialysis at home. Before starting at-home therapy, they receive special training to understand the dialysis process better. Dialysis sessions typically take several hours, so some patients choose the at-home option as a less physically draining weekly routine.
Home dialysis regimens vary based on duration and timing of treatment. Patients can choose the conventional regimen of three weekly sessions lasting up to four hours each. Alternatively, they may prefer two-hour sessions five to seven times per week. Nocturnal regimens, which last up to eight hours every night while patients sleep, are also options.
NKF builds partnerships with medical organizations to launch awareness and care campaigns that target CKD. For example, NKF partnered with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to establish a congressionally funded CKD program in 2006.
More recently, NKF was one of nine healthcare organizations that launched Innovate Kidney Care in June 2021. The campaign aims to improve at-home dialysis through patient-centered technologies and updated regulations.
Collaborating with the American Society of Nephrology, Home Dialyzors United, CVS Kidney Care, Intermountain Healthcare, and other founding members, NKF advocates for home dialysis training and support so more patients can benefit from a personalized and flexible treatment at home. Home dialysis patients complete extensive training to learn skills, such as needle placement and machine disinfection to manage their home treatments.
Further, Innovate Kidney Care proposes the modification of the existing Conditions for Coverage, the strict requirements for all dialysis treatments regardless of their setting. Such complex requirements hinder healthcare providers from offering alternative dialysis options to patients interested in transitioning to at-home therapy. Innovate Kidney Care campaign spokesperson Tonya Saffer clarified the importance of modernizing dialysis requirements to help patients from all backgrounds gain equal access to at-home treatment.
NKF, founded in 1950, supports research, creates clinical practice guidelines, and establishes useful education tools for patients diagnosed with kidney conditions. Improving medical care for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is among the foundation’s main priorities. CKD is an umbrella term for conditions that lead to gradual loss of kidney function. CKD affects more than 35 million Americans, and many more are at risk. Common causes of CKD include hypertension and diabetes.
After the onset of CKD, patients may experience a set of complications, such as high blood pressure, anemia, and nerve damage. If left untreated, CKD results in kidney failure, a life-threatening condition that requires urgent dialysis treatment or transplantation. Hemodialysis is an alternate way to clear waste products from the bloodstream after the kidneys lose their filtration ability. Patients on hemodialysis are connected to a dialyzer that acts as an artificial kidney. Dialyzers filter the blood and then send it back into circulation.
Trained professionals perform hemodialysis at medical facilities. The treatment is also available as an at-home therapy. Patients and their care partners cooperate to perform hemodialysis at home. Before starting at-home therapy, they receive special training to understand the dialysis process better. Dialysis sessions typically take several hours, so some patients choose the at-home option as a less physically draining weekly routine.
Home dialysis regimens vary based on duration and timing of treatment. Patients can choose the conventional regimen of three weekly sessions lasting up to four hours each. Alternatively, they may prefer two-hour sessions five to seven times per week. Nocturnal regimens, which last up to eight hours every night while patients sleep, are also options.
NKF builds partnerships with medical organizations to launch awareness and care campaigns that target CKD. For example, NKF partnered with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to establish a congressionally funded CKD program in 2006.
More recently, NKF was one of nine healthcare organizations that launched Innovate Kidney Care in June 2021. The campaign aims to improve at-home dialysis through patient-centered technologies and updated regulations.
Collaborating with the American Society of Nephrology, Home Dialyzors United, CVS Kidney Care, Intermountain Healthcare, and other founding members, NKF advocates for home dialysis training and support so more patients can benefit from a personalized and flexible treatment at home. Home dialysis patients complete extensive training to learn skills, such as needle placement and machine disinfection to manage their home treatments.
Further, Innovate Kidney Care proposes the modification of the existing Conditions for Coverage, the strict requirements for all dialysis treatments regardless of their setting. Such complex requirements hinder healthcare providers from offering alternative dialysis options to patients interested in transitioning to at-home therapy. Innovate Kidney Care campaign spokesperson Tonya Saffer clarified the importance of modernizing dialysis requirements to help patients from all backgrounds gain equal access to at-home treatment.
