DaVita expands options for dialysis patients

[okarol]

DaVita expands options for dialysis patients

Friday, January 12, 2007

By Susan Gordanier, The Hillsboro Argus
www.oregonlive.com

If a single word could summarize the options presented by the newly opened DaVita Dialysis Center it might be "flexibility."

For patients with end-stage kidney disease, where that organ's function has declined below 10 percent of normal, ready access to dialysis is a fairly recent development. Research has yielded a range of options, empowering patients to make decisions about their own care.

Dr. Mary Meyer, DaVita's staff nephrologist, recalls as recently as the 1970s the life-saving treatment was rationed, because sufficient dialysis machines were not available to meet the need.

Dialysis, along with a strict diet and medications, substitute for all the functions of healthy kidneys, maintaining homeostasis, keeping the body in balance, Meyer says.

They also produce the hormone erythropoietin, which stimulates bone marrow to produce red blood cells and the form of vitamin D that controls bone density - those with kidney failure may be subject to bone diseases, she said. The kidneys also control the amount of fluid in the body, which, in turn, affects blood pressure.

Fortunately, a shortage of dialysis machines no longer exists, and contemporary centers such as DaVita offer many options to help patients more closely approximate the freedom they had before their disease progressed, according to Anette R. Arnold, RN, administrator of the Hillsboro center. These options include:

On-site hemodialysis - DaVita has a large room devoted to a bank of 2008K dialysis machines, which Arnold describes as having "all the bells and whistles." Patients selecting this method come to the center three times weekly, for three- to five-hour sessions. DaVita provides Wi-Fi and flat-panel TVs at each station to help pass this time.

Home hemodialysis - Patients use small portable units at home, in sessions lasting over two hours each, at least six times weekly.

Peritoneal dialysis - The patient's body, the peritoneal cavity surrounding the abdominal organs, substitutes for a machine for the filtration process. A catheter passed inside the body is used to insert a sterile solution that "bathes" the organs. Impurities flow out in a process similar to diffusion, and four to six hours later, the liquid is drained.

Meyer says the peritoneal method is chosen by people who like to stay home and do not want to have to deal with machines. They can even travel, without having to arrange appointments with dialysis centers.

The public is invited to an open house at the DaVita Center from 5 to 7 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 13. Staff will be present to answer questions and explain the equipment such as the state-of-the-art "water room" where custom solutions for the dialysis process are mixed.

The center is in Suite 300, Building E, at 2500 NW 229th Ave. For more information, call 503-681-9460 or visit www.davita.com.


URL: http://www.oregonlive.com/news/argus/index.ssf?/base/news/116862612947790.xml&coll=6

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[Zach]

Interesting Public Relations.

DaVita expands options for dialysis patients

 ... Dr. Mary Meyer, DaVita's staff nephrologist, recalls as recently as the 1970s the life-saving treatment was rationed, because sufficient dialysis machines were not available to meet the need.

 ... Fortunately, a shortage of dialysis machines no longer exists, and contemporary centers such as DaVita offer many options to help patients more closely approximate the freedom they had before their disease progressed, according to Anette R. Arnold, RN, administrator of the Hillsboro center.

The shortage was more due to funding than lack of machines.  No mention how Medicare came to pay for most of dialysis.  The original "death committees" were set up to decide who would have their treatment funded.