2nd Annual NxStageUsers Meet-Up and Conference

NxStageUsers 2nd Annual Meet-up & Conference, Oct. 2-4, in New Orleans

Theme: Patient-Centered Dialysis: You’re in the Driver’s Seat!

In keeping with NxStageUsers credo of dialysis as rehabilitative treatment leading to a full and active life, this year’s conference is devoted to taking control of your own dialysis treatment for optimal outcomes: Patient-Centered Dialysis: You’re in the Drivers Seat!
Guest speakers will cover a wide variety of topics dealing with the practical, day-to-day aspects of successfully doing your own home hemodialysis.

To quote dialysis treatment pioneer Dr, Christopher Blagg, (aakpRENALIFE , vol.18, #5, March 2003)
“Is it difficult to learn to do your own dialysis? Not particularly. Do not be overwhelmed by the complicated looking machine. If you can drive a car safely, you can certainly learn to operate a dialysis machine equally well. Remember, most ordinary people can learn to drive with appropriate training and the same applies to dialysis.”

Conference Details:T

he conference agenda includes a day and half of presentations (Monday – Tuesday, Oct. 3-4, 2011)

The conference will begin with an informal Meet Upat the conference hotel, Embassy Suites New Orleans - Convention Center on Sunday evening, Oct. 2, 5:30-7:30 PM,315 Julia Street, New Orleans, LA 70130. Meet the people you’ve been emailing and with whom you’ve become long-distance friends. The camaraderie of fellow dialyzors is hard to beat. You will come away with friends for life!

The hotel is within strolling distance of many of New Orleans’ top tourist attractions, including the historic the French Quarter, the National D-Day Museum, the Louisiana Children’s Museum, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, the New Orleans Museum of Art, and Harrah's Casino. The Embassy Suites two-room suites offer ample room for attendees to dialyze in comfort.

On Tuesday evening, Oct. 4, NxStage Medical will host an educational event and reception for the NxStageUsers Conference attendees – more information to come.

An educational and vacation opportunity in one of America’s most fascinating cities: Why not attend the NxStageUsers Conference and then have a mini-vacation in The Big Easy, New Orleans, Louisiana, a city unique in America for its fabulous cuisine, unequalled jazz and Cajun music, and easy-going ambiance.

For more information and to register to attend the conference, please follow this link: Registration: NxStageUsers 2nd Annual Meet-up & Conference, New Orleans, LA

Conference Agenda: Oct. 3-4, 2011

The conference agenda includes a day and half of presentations by prominent nephrologists, renal professionals, and dialysis patients and care partners, many like you, who have pushed the boundaries of dialysis, using their own portable hemodialysis equipment.

Speakers/Topics:
Tom Parker III, MD, Clinical Professor, Univ. of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Chief Medical Officer of Renal Ventures Management, Dallas, TX, The Fallacy of “Numbers”, Dr. Parker has been highly instrumental in defining quality dialysis care and is widely published on the subject. He co-hosted the 2009 Boston conference “ESRD: State of the Art and Charting the Challenges for the Future,” which spawned a continuing dialogue about ways to improve care.

Stuart Mott, BS, BA, LPN, Columbia, MO. Cannulation, Mr.Mott is well known in the dialysis community for his championing self-cannulation and the development of several unique and helpful techniques for sticking dialysis needles.

Jane Schell, MD, Fellow in Palliative Care, Duke University, Durham, NC. Patient Centered Communication. Dr. Shell’s emphasis is on empathy, attending to patient emotions and responding to needs. She will discuss the necessity of “getting on the same side of the table with the patient.”

Ben Ruback, Boston, MA, A First Time Patient Advocate, Diagnosed with FSGS at age five, Mr. Ruback has experience with peritoneal dialysis, transplantation, in-center hemodialysis and home hemodialysis and now performs hemodialysis five nights a week at home. A recent graduate of Harvard, he is completing a masters degree in education there as he begins his career as a high school biology teacher.

Denise Eilers, BSN, RN, Davenport, IA, Renal Rehabilitation: Lessons from Cardiology. Ms. Eilers is both a nurse and a former care partner during her late husband's 25 years on home hemodialysis. She teaches beginning nursing students in East Moline, IL and is a member of ANNA and the ESRD Network 5 Kidney End of Life Coalition.

Terry Waldon, Care Partner & Coordinator, NxStageUsers’ Buddy System, Orange, CA, Burnout and Results of the Buddy System. For the past 16 years Mr. Waldon has been care partner to his wife Sharon, the last five doing home hemodialysis. Almost a year ago he developed the Buddy System, which matches dialyzors nationwide, who help each other with through the emotional ups and downs of living with renal failure. He will speak about both dialyzor and care partner psychological burnout, and how to overcome it.

Joyce Jackson, MHA, MS, BS, President & CEO, Northwest Kidney Centers, Seattle, Clinical Associate Professor, Health Services, Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA, What to Expect From Your Clinic. She defines quality not just in terms of clinical outcomes, but by a patient's quality of life.

Marc Chow, MS, Director of Government Affairs, Satellite Healthcare, Mountain View, CA, Bundling: Today and Tomorrow, Mr. Chow will examine the impact the new CMS regulations on reimbursement payment have had on the quality of treatment in dialysis centers nationwide and on home dialysis.

Michael Kraus, MD, FACP, Prof. Clinical Medicine & Clinical Coord. - Division of Nephrology, Medical Dir. - Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD), Hemodialysis and Acute Dialysis Units, Indiana University School of Medicine Indianapolis, IN. Dr. Kraus is the principle investigator of the NxStage Home Sweet Home IDE Study, and one of the first nephrologists to embrace the NxStage System One®.

Stuart Sprague, DO, Chief - Nephrology & Hypertension, North Shore University Healthcare System, and Prof. of Medicine, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, Evanston, IL., Mineral Bone Disorder,Dr. Sprague is internationally recognized in the field, having authored over 150 peer reviewed articles on mineral metabolism, metabolic bone disease and PTH, and spoken at numerous national and international professional meetings.

Mark Neumann, Executive Editor, Nephrology News and Issues, Phoenix, AZ, Current Issues. Mr. Neuman has been executive editor of Nephrology News and Issues for over two decades. NN&I is one of the most widely read renal industry publications. Among his other duties, Mark writes the magazine’s popular and thought provoking “First Word” op-ed column.

Joseph E. Turk, Jr., President - North America, NxStage Medical, Inc.An MBA graduate of Northwestern University, Mr. Turk joined NxStage in 2000, coming from Boston Scientific where he was director of new business development. He was named president of NxStage, North America in late 2010.

For More Information including sign-up and registration , Please viisit NxStageUsers Website

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About NxStageUsersFounded in 2007, NxStageUsers actively supports and advocates for more frequent and longer dialysis treatments in order to rehabilitate all persons with kidney failure to again become active, productive citizens in American society. Our membership is primarily composed of men and women and their care partners who have personally experienced kidney loss and freely chosen the most effective dialysis modality available today, the NxStage® System One, to insure their return to a healthy, active lifestyle, regardless of age or debilities. We understand and appreciate the benefits of kidney organ transplants, but also recognize that not all those suffering from kidney failure are, or will ever be, acceptable candidates for a transplant, and must therefore rely on dialysis for the rest of their lives.

Legal Disclaimer:
NxStage is a registered trademark of NxStage Medical, Inc. NxStageUsers is not affiliated with NxStage Medical, Inc