Fresenius' K-at-Home

[007]

My company will soon be offering the K-at-Home by Fresenius for our home hemo patients.  Has anyone used this machine or anything about it?  Also, can anyone compare it to the NextStage?  Thanks!

[Hawkeye]

I have worked on these and can say that with a few exceptions they are the same as the in clinic K machines.  They have added a few screens to help patients setup the machines and have removed a few features that can be used to change/alter perscriptions so the machine must be setup by a technical person with your proper dialysis perscription.  I have no clue as to how the K at Home and NxStage compare though.

[willieandwinnie]

tabitharl, My husband was on home hemo from 4/2003 until 9/2007 and we used the Fresenius 2008H and loved it. On 29 of August 2007 we trained on the new Baby K at our clinic and we did not like it. There was no programming for a profile and you couldn't set the blood pressure to be taken at different times (i.e., 15, 30 etc). We were not comfortable with the machine so they decided to just leave the 2008H until they got the modules for the programs we wanted. Thank God, on 9/6/2007 we got the call for a kidney. I'm guessing that some of the hesitation for us with the machine was, we were comfortable with the one we had been using and didn't like the fact that some features we always used were not available with the Baby K. I would of been happier if they would of trained us on the regular K. I think it is all what you get use to. I can't over any comparsion with NxStage but I'm sure someone will chime in on that. One other thought, the Baby K isn't that much smaller then the regular K, so you still can't travel with the Fresenius so I'm thinking that nothing is gained. Just my  worth.

[del]

We use the 2008H and really like it. Been using it for a year and a half now and no problems.  A very reliable machine.

[Adam_W]

There was no programming for a profile and you couldn't set the blood pressure to be taken at different times (i.e., 15, 30 etc).

No profiling or automatic bp intervals? That sucks. If I had to use a full sized hemodialysis machine, I'd want the regular 2008K or the 2008H. Those are two features that I really miss since I switched to NxStage (I was on the H when I was in-centre). I've read that the 2008K@Home doesn't have online clearance either. I like the way you can set an actual clearance goal on the other machines. I guess Fresenius figures that those features aren't needed for most home treatments.

Adam

[Hawkeye]

If I had to use a full sized hemodialysis machine, I'd want the regular 2008K or the 2008H. Those are two features that I really miss since I switched to NxStage (I was on the H when I was in-centre). I've read that the 2008K@Home doesn't have online clearance either. I like the way you can set an actual clearance goal on the other machines. I guess Fresenius figures that those features aren't needed for most home treatments.

Well unless you get a really well used H there is no chance of getting one of those anymore since they haven't been in production fro a few years and the parts are not going to be available anymore soon as well.  As far as some of the features are concerned with the K at home they really removed them from the user available screens to help prevent something from accidentally getting changed and harming/killing a patient.  That doesn't make sense with the BP thing but you should be able to still do a manual BP at any time by hitting the Start/Deflate button to the lower right side of the screen.

[Jay72]

I am training on the 2008k for home right now, and you can set the BP intervals in the parameters screen when you are setting the machine up.

[flip]

Is the 2008K still going to be available next year? Baxter won the lawsuit against Fresenius and, unless Fresenius wins the appeal, they will not be able to sell it anymore.

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080404005760&newsLang=en

[willieandwinnie]

Jay72 do you have a regular K of the Baby K? Maybe they finally added the blood pressure module which would be great, how about the profiling? I wonder what is happening with the lawsuit with Baxter. The Fresenius machines are everywhere. In hospitals and all the clinics around here.

Hawkeye, it is a pain in the ass to push the manual blood pressure button everytime you need a reading. Anything to save a buck.........

[Jay72]

I honestly am not sure, I just started on July 14, but I will be there tomorrow morning and I will find out and get back to you.

[del]

Our 2008H is going to have to be replaced by something else within the next year or so because you won't be able to get parts for them anymore.  Don't know what we will be getting. Apparently the techs and training nurses are checking out a few machines now. We have not had any problems at all in the past 2 years with the 2008H just regular maintenance. Tech did tell us though that we won't have to mix bicarbs when we get a new machine. We get bicarb powder now and have to mix a bicarb every night in an 8 liter bottle.  Then we have to clean the bottle with bleach before it can be used again.  A real pain in the butt!!!