Clinical Outcomes

The CKD Quality Initiative has three clinical focus areas:

• Timely testing to detect the rate of kidney failure due to diabetes: Increase the implementation of evidence-based practices to identify CKD in Medicare beneficiaries through urinary microalbumin measurement.



• Slowing the progression of kidney disease in people diagnosed with diabetes and hypertension: Increase the use of ACE inhibitor and/or ARB agent to treat hypertension.



• AV fistula placement and maturation (as a first choice for arteriovenous access where medically appropriate) for individuals who elect, as a part of timely renal replacement counseling, hemodialysis as their treatment option for kidney failure: Increase the rate of individuals (where medically appropriate) who start their first dialysis treatment with the “gold standard” – a mature AV fistula.
  

By using the evidence-based guidelines from the National Kidney Foundation Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative, the American Diabetes Association Standards of Care, and the Fistula First Breakthrough Initiative, providers will have access to numerous resources for their practice and patients on how to improve their clinical outcomes related to CKD.