Program Highlights

Friday, March 5, 2021

Home Dialysis Symposium

• US Trends in Home Dialysis During 2020: the Aftermath of an Acquisition, an Executive Order and a Virus
• Clinically Speaking: Addressing the Goal to Promote Home Dialysis
• Establishing and Expanding a Home Program
• Developing an Effective Workforce
• Standardizing Patient Education
• Promoting Universal Professional Education in Dialysis
• Peer Mentorship Program

Fundamentals of Extracorporeal Therapy

• Choosing Dialyzers
• Hypotension in Dialysis
• Anticoagulation in Patients on DOAC and Coumadin: Challenges and Pitfalls
• Nuances of Ultrafiltration
• Iron Therapy
• New Methods of AV Access Creation
• Buttonhole Cannulation
• Therapeutic Plasmapheresis

Fundamentals of Dialysis in Children

• Peritoneal and Vascular Access
• Physiology of Blood Purification
• PD Prescription and Adequacy Monitoring
• HD Prescription and Adequacy Monitoring
• Pediatric Dialysis Nutrition Guidelines
• Growth and Recombinant Growth Hormone Therapy
• Renal Anemia: The Basics
• Infectious Complications
• Cardiovascular Complications
• Breakout Sessions for Fellows, Nurses and RD’s

To the Hospital and Beyond: A Special Program on Child Life and Dialysis

Program Description:  Child Life Specialists (CLS) are members of the health care team who provide support for patients and their family members throughout their hospital journey. Their services and support vary depending on the needs of each individual patient and family that they encounter. CLS have special expertise to educate and work alongside the interdisciplinary team.  Some of their activities include utilizing therapeutic play to allow the child to understand their time in the hospital system,  preparing patients for what they are going to experience in the hospital to promote positive coping, assisting with pain management techniques and how to empower a patient to do difficult tasks in addition to supporting the family throughout this journey.  All these interactions are guided by the CLS’s knowledge of child development. 

The goal of this special program is to provide a forum to share information of the roles of Child Life Specialists (CLS) in Nephrology with fellow Nephrology Practitioners and foster an exchange of ideas on how this group of professionals can best support and serve the unique patient population they care for.  

Topics:

• A Day in the Life of a Nephrology Child Life Specialist
• Child Life and Dialysis Support
• The Forgotten Child: Supporting Siblings
• Preparing and Supporting the Child and Family for a Kidney Transplant
• Recreational Activities and Camp Involvement

Peritoneal Dialysis Fundamentals

• PD Prescription and Adequacy Management
• Volume Management
• Urgent Start PD

Saturday, March 6, 2021

General Session:  Keynote Presentations

• Professional Burnout: Does the Current Culture of Healthcare Foster Professional Burnout?
• Update on CMS Regulations

Home Dialysis Topics

• Prescription and Management
  • Optimal individualized Prescription
  • How To Keep Patients at Home
• PD Fundamentals: Complications
  • Electrolyte Imbalances
  • Catheter Complications
  • Splenic Infarct
  • Gastroparesis
• Key Components of a Successful Home Program
  • PD Champions in Dialysis Programs
  • Access Management
  • Clinical Management
  • Hypoalbuminemia
  • Preservation of the peritoneal membrane
• Maintaining Home Dialysis Prevalence
  • Challenges in Managing Home Dialysis Patients
  • Transitioning Between Modalities

Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMS)

• Why do we need PROMS?
• PROMS for ESRD: What is the Right Way to Approach them?

Dialysis in the COVID-19 Patient

• Modifications of Current Modalities
• Role of Additional Extracorporeal Therapies
• Anticoagulation Challenges
• Infection Control

Telemedicine and COVID-19

• Explosive Growth of Telemedicine after COVID-19
• Essentials of a Telehealth Platform
• Technology
• Update on Billing for Remote Nephrology Services

Virtual Networking Sessions

Sunday, March 7, 2021

Joint Program with the International Society of Peritoneal Dialysis (ISPD)-North American Chapter (NAC)

Selected Topics:

• Insights and Innovation
• New Models of PD Education
• Advanced PD Training
• Patient-focused PD Prescriptions
• Acute PD for AKI
• Percutaneous PD Catheter Insertion
• Surgical PD Catheter Insertion and Treatment of Complications
• Unusual PD Complications

A Peek into the Future of Hemodialysis

• Revisiting Sodium as the Uremic Toxin
• Dialysis induced Systemic Stress
• Artificial Intelligence in Dialysis Management: Foe or Friend?
• Removal of High Molecular Weight middle molecules: Is this Important?

Meeting the Psychosocial Needs of Home Patients

• The Burden of Home Dialysis on Patients and Care Partners
• Understanding the Views of Care Partners
• Helping Patients Navigate Grief and Depression
• Assisting Patients Transition Between Modalities

Best Practices on Preventing the Spread of Infections During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

• Dialysis Facility Experience and Adaptation of Policy Changes
• CDC’s Role in Making Dialysis Safer During a Pandemic
• Collaborating with SNF’s in Dealing with a Vulnerable Patient Population
• Rationing Care: Decision-making Strategies and Ethical Considerations

Economic Considerations in Dialysis

• CMS’s Proposed Medicare Payment Changes to Support Innovation and Increased Access for Dialysis in the Home Setting
• Economic Evaluation of Dialysis Therapies: Real and Hidden Costs
• Policies and Incentives: Are they Aligned with Economic Efficiencies?

New Approaches to Education in the Current Healthcare Environment

• Technology in Healthcare Education
• Virtual Education in ESRD for Patients and Family, Nurses and Physicians: What is the Potential?

Anemia Management

• The Pivotal Trial-Role of IV Iron in Renal Anemia
• HIF-inhibitors: A Viable Option for Managing Renal Anemia in 2020

Advances in Technology and Delivery

• Survival Benefits of HDF
• Time for a New PD Catheter
• Crush Injury and Beyond: Disaster Nephrology
• Essentials of Renal Rescue in Natural Disasters

Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Research Applied to Home Dialysis

• Comparative Effectiveness of Home Dialysis Modalities: Methods and Mistakes
• Trial Design for Home Dialysis Machines and Equipment
• Understanding Patient Perspectives in Home Dialysis

Pediatric Sessions (March 6 and 7, 2021)

• Hot Topics
  • Calcium Balance
  • New PD Guidelines
• Mineral Bone Disease: Back to Basics
• Team Approach to Fluid Management in Pediatric Dialysis
• Novel Patient Education Strategies
• Fundamentals for Families
  • The Infant Dialysis Patient
  • The Adolescent Dialysis Patient
• Nursing Breakout Sessions
• RD Breakout Sessions
• Best Abstract Presentations