Dialysis Facility Compare - Quality Measures

Dialysis Facility Compare

Quality Measures
What are dialysis facility quality measures?

Quality measures give you information about the care that a dialysis facility provides to its patients. This information gives you one way to compare dialysis facilities.

Dialysis facility quality measures in this website include information about:

* Anemia - how well patients at a facility have their anemia (low red blood count) under control (hematocrit of 33 or greater). http://www.medicare.gov/Dialysis/Static/Glossary.asp?dest=NAV|Home|Resources|Glossary#HCTG33
* Hemodialysis Adequacy - how many patients at a facility get enough waste removed from their blood during dialysis treatments (Urea Reduction Ratio (URR) of 65 or greater). http://www.medicare.gov/Dialysis/Static/Glossary.asp?dest=NAV|Home|Resources|Glossary#URRG65
* Patient Survival - if the patients treated at a facility generally live longer than, as long, or not as long as expected. http://www.medicare.gov/Dialysis/Static/Glossary.asp?dest=NAV|Home|Resources|Glossary#PTSURV

Why should you look at quality measures?

Dialysis facilities can vary in how well they care for their patients. The three measures listed above help you to know that you are getting good dialysis care. After you look at the quality measures, you can click on the Resources Tab to find out more about good dialysis care.

The care that facilities provide can affect how you feel overall, and how long you survive. Looking at quality measures can:

* help you choose understand which facilities are providing good care.
* give you information about dialysis facilities to discuss with dialysis staff and your doctor.
* help staff improve how well the care for you and others.

Important points to remember:

* Quality measures are one thing to think about when deciding about dialysis facility care, but there are other things as well.
* In addition to the quality measures, find out if the dialysis facility meets your specific needs (for example, if it’s near to your home or if it provides the type of dialysis you want).
* Some facilities may have higher percentages on the quality measures because of the types of patients they serve.
* You may wish to print the quality information from the Compare Quality tab and take it with you when you visit dialysis facilities, to discuss their results.
* Feel free to ask dialysis facilities about their scores on the quality measures, and what may be affecting their scores.
* Look at other information available for those dialysis facilities on this website, including Facility Services.
* You may also call your State Survey Agency or regional End-Stage Renal Disease Network for more information (see Quality Concerns http://www.medicare.gov/Dialysis/Static/Contacts.asp?dest=NAV|Home|Resources|Contacts#TabTop).

Why were these quality measures chosen for this website?

These quality measures were selected for this website because they give important information. They show how dialysis facilities are different from one another. These quality measures are valid, reasonable, and provide useful information for people who would like to compare different dialysis facilities. As research continues, Medicare staff will work to enhance the quality measures on this website.

Found at http://www.medicare.gov/Dialysis/Static/AboutQualityMeasures.asp?dest=NAV|Home|DataDetails|AboutQualityMeasures