Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/101200
Q How do you perceive this new relationship between the specialist and the primary care physician will help your patients? A: We believe the alignment of specialist and primary care will ensure a coordinated patient experience. This alignment will be critical for the entire continuum of patient care, beginning in the early stages of chronic kidney disease and concluding in the final stages. From the very beginning to the very end, the patient will benefit from this seamless alignment of health care. We b elieve th e b e s t c are is provided when it is given at the appropriate time, in the appropriate amounts, and by the appropriate provider. This will utilize the specific training of all the caregivers. Q How is exchange of health care information going to be accomplished? A: Professionals in the field of medicine have worked hard to become m ore con n e c te d a n d d evelop avenues of communication. It is commonly presumed by patients that telephones, letters and faxes provide a robust communication between providers. Unfortunately, this method is quickly becoming criticized for its inefficiencies and errors. The development of a secure and efficient communication pathway is vital. The seamless transfer of personal health information at the moment it is needed will improve care, increase quality and lower costs. The collaborative will utilize modern electronic exchange of personal health information to facilitate our communication. At the same time, we will take advantage of medical analytics to ensure the care we are giving is timely and treatments up to date. The same analytics will allow us to monitor all renal failure patients to assure they have received the appropriate care for their needs. Q Do you feel more intimate involvement with kidney failure patients on dialysis will be of benefit to them? A: In the past, as patients transitioned from a ���well��� renal insufficient patient to a ���completely��� renal-impaired patient, they lost contact with their general physicians. This forced renal specialists to take on roles to which they were not accustomed, specifically when asked to provide basic primary care services. Our hope is to improve access for renal failure patients to their entire continuum of providers. We believe this will provide emotional comfort to critically ill patients, prevent more costly care and, hopefully, avoid potentially deadly disease processes. Q Do you anticipate this type of format could be used with other specialties? A: It is our belief that this clinical collaboration will be replicated with many specialties. The proof of efficient care will be self-evident and will become the new norm. We are pleased to be trailblazers in this new method of health care delivery. If you would like to know more about the CKD program, please contact Cheryl Casamento, APRN, Clinical Program Coordinator, by calling 1-800-263-3366, ext. 815. ��� ���After 12 years with Kansas Nephrology Physicians, it is exciting to see our doctors working closely with a fantastic group of primary care physicians to improve patient outcomes. Three of the doctors involved in this endeavor ��� Joe Davison, M.D.; Kevin Hoppock, M.D.; and Dennis Ross, M.D. ��� were honorees at the 2012 Health Care Heroes, sponsored by the Wichita Business Journal. They were honored for their contributions in improving health care in Wichita and the surrounding areas. This partnership is one more way these doctors have chosen to improve patient care for the CKD population. It is an honor to work for such devoted doctors. If any group of individuals can make this concept successful, it will be them.��� ��� Kim Fowler, Kansas Nephrology Physicians Business Manager mdnews.com ��� md news Greater Kansas | 15