09/24/2021

A Note from Felicia Speed at Fresenius Kidney Care

Preparing Patients for Transplant: The Essential Role of Kidney Care Teams

Kidney transplantation is the treatment of choice for certain patients with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), with transplant recipients enjoying benefits such as longer and better quality of life. Generally, doctors consider a kidney transplant to be the best kidney failure treatment, whenever possible.

The rollout of the ESRD Treatment Choices Model (ETC Model), a government incentive program run by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), aims to encourage more people with kidney failure to receive a transplant along with increasing the use of home dialysis.

The effort to decrease roadblocks to transplantation, better educate patients, and actively encourage kidney donation begins in the center with interdisciplinary care teams that support patients and help coordinate preparation for transplant. As accessibility increases, patient preparation, education, and care are more crucial than ever.

In providing compassionate care and support to people with kidney failure, I recognize the essential role that Nephrology Clinical Technicians (NCTs) and Nephrology Biomedical Technicians (NBTs) play in a patient’s dialysis experience and journey to transplantation. In having significant face-to-face interaction with patients and helping patients with day-to-day dialysis processes, your relationship with patients is a great source of support as they prepare for transplant.

As you know, the process of kidney transplantation begins with an evaluation and discussion to determine a patient’s interest in and suitability for the procedure. Your collaboration with others on your team during the evaluation and discussion helps with increasing the likelihood of a successful transplant.

The social workers on your team can be great partners in advocating for patients to be waitlisted for transplant. As part of the interdisciplinary dialysis care team, your social workers have the opportunity to collaborate, the ability to discuss transplant with patients, and the relationships needed to effectively assist patients with preparing for the process. I encourage you to join together and work to help patients get ready for the transplant evaluation to help relieve any stress or anxiety.

You are an invaluable resource and a cornerstone of patient support and education when it comes to transplantation. Thank you for working with us to help patients live their best lives.

--Felicia Speed, Vice President of Social Work Services, Fresenius Kidney Care