Baxter Kidney Patient Education Program Celebrates Tenth A...( and as a result fewer hospitalizations ...)

Rashid Dalal, M.D., a Belleville, IL nephrologist, works with a Baxter KPE to help him provide an invaluable aspect of care to his patients -- the ability to focus on the "whole person" needs of an individual patient, which includes social, educational and/or financial concerns.

"With the KPE program, patients and their families are just better prepared," said Dalal. "They ask better questions and make better decisions. The transition of pre-ESRD patients to dialysis is more seamless, because there is less confusion regarding available options and less indecisiveness."

The KPE program's anniversary comes as Congress considers rewriting Medicare rules covering ESRD. While some private payers offer patient education prior to dialysis, many Medicare beneficiaries, who account for half of all new dialysis patients, do not receive information until after they begin treatment. The pending legislation would allow Medicare beneficiaries to receive pre-ESRD patient education.

For Cynthia Rogers, a Houston, Texas peritoneal dialysis patient, receiving pre-dialysis education was crucial to making good decisions quickly. She was diagnosed with CKD this past June, and by the time she saw her nephrologist a month later, her kidneys were in such rapid decline that she was told that she would need dialysis. Her nephrologist referred her to Gloria Vela, RN, a Baxter KPE who met with Rogers immediately after her doctor's appointment.

"I was a bit in shock and I had to make this quick decision on treatment. I had a lot of questions and I needed to know my options. Gloria gave me more than enough information to make a decision that suits my lifestyle," said Rogers. "You can do some research on the internet and things like that, but it's nothing like talking to a person who can actually answer your questions and tell you about options that you didn't even know were
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