Increasing Transplant Waitlists
Quality Improvement Activity (QIA)

Network Task Lead: Kou Kha-Moua

Kidney transplantation offers advantages over dialysis for most End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patients in both quality of life and survival. In spite of the benefits of kidney transplantation, according to the United States Renal Data System (USRDS), in 2015, 87.3 percent of all incident cases began renal replacement therapy with hemodialysis, 9.6 percent started with peritoneal dialysis, and just 2.5 percent received a preemptive kidney transplant. In addition, 63.0 percent of all prevalent ESRD cases were receiving hemodialysis therapy, 7.0 percent were being treated with peritoneal dialysis, and 29.6 percent had a functioning kidney transplant.¹ 

Quality Insights Renal Network 4 will assist participating facilities as they guide eligible patients through the 7-step transplant process leading to getting patients on the transplant waitlist:²
 

1. Patient suitability for transplant (defined as absence of absolute contraindication identified in the medical records) 
2. Patient interest in transplant
3. Referral call to transplant center
4. First visit to transplant center
5. Transplant center work up
6. Successful transplant candidate
7. On waiting list or evaluate potential living donor

Monthly Reporting Tool

Toolkit

• Introduction Webinar
  • Presentation Slides
  • Webinar Recording
  • Provide Feedback
• Quality Improvement Videos
  • Quality Improvement in Healthcare (11:08 Minutes)
  • Root Cause Analysis – Process to Identify Areas for Quality Improvement
    • What is a Fishbone Diagram? (3:08 Minutes)
    • Root Cause Analysis: 5 Whys (4:44 Minutes)
  • PDSA Cycles – Process to Achieve Quality Improvement (6:21 Minutes)
• PDSA Worksheet
  • This worksheet is provided for you to use if you wish to have a hard copy prior to documenting your PDSA work online.
• ​Stitches of Hope Campaign
  • Campaign Letter
  • Consent Form
  • Patient Testimonial
  • Campaign Poster
• Quality Insight Renal Network 4 Patient Testimonials
• Quality Insights Renal Network 4: Transplantation
• Network 4 Transplant Centers
• 5-Diamond Patient Safety Program Transplant Module
• PREPARED and TALK Materials  
  • These tools are designed to help patients make decisions about treatment options for kidney diseases. The video and book are designed to help patients make decisions about treatment options for kidney disease. They were developed with grant support from the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation. The TALK video and book were designed by faculty at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the leaders from the National Kidney Foundation of Maryland. They were developed with grant support from the Health Resources and Services Administration.
• Articles of Interest
  • Impact of Navigators on the Completion of Steps in the Kidney Transplant Process: A Randomized, Controlled Trial
  • Opportunities for Shared Decision Making in Kidney Transplantation
• Conditions for Coverage

References

1. United States Renal Data System. 2017 USRDS annual data report: Epidemiology of kidney disease in the United States. National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, MD, 2017

2. Sullivan C, Leon JB, Sayre SS, Marbury M, Ivers M, Pencak JA, Bodziak KA, Hricik DE, Morrison EJ, Albert JM, Navaneethan SD, Reyes CM, Sehgal AR. Impact of navigators on completion of steps in the kidney transplant process: a randomized, controlled trial. 
   https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3463214/

 

Page last updated: 01/25/18