Maine Nephrology Associates, An 11 Physician Specialty Practice Essay

The National Kidney Foundation information is provided in a question and answer format with one or two sentence simple answers provided. The Merck Manual site utilizes headers with information ranging between one to three paragraphs. Links available on the National Kidney Foundation Website keep the reader on the site and frequently take them back to the donation page. The Website provides a section for “Professional” users, however, the majority of the area is again written for the general public. One area reviewed provides an “Education and Research” option that takes the professional reader to more technical writing sources contained within the National Kidney Foundation Website. The Merck Manual links allow the reader to visit other Websites for additional subject information. The National Kidney Foundation Website offers additional educational opportunities via Webinars and seminars. No such offerings were noted on the Merck Manual site.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a worldwide problem that is currently three times higher for African Americans, Hispanics, Pacific Islanders, American Indians and seniors (The National Kidney Foundation, 2013). CKD occurs when the kidneys are damaged by a pathogen or injury and they can no longer adequately maintain proper levels of regulated chemicals in the bloodstream. There are many risk associated with CKD. According to the National Kidney Foundation, two of the major risks are Chronic Renal Failure (CRF) and Cardiovascular Disease. Currently twenty million American adults have CKD and millions of others are at increased risk. Age has no barrier on getting CKD. People with pre-existing health issues, and a part of certain population

The organization strategic plan consists of addressing clinical quality, growth, and becoming a larger part of the community, and providing long term value. The annual report states the following strategic goals (Bon Secours, 2012):

According to University of California (2016), more than 650,000 patients per year in the United States and 2 million patients global are affected by end stage renal disease (ESRD). Number of patient effective by ESRD is increasing every year by 5%. How serious problem it is shows Healthy people 2020. One of the goals of Healthy People 20202 is” reduce new cases of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and its complications, disability, death, and economic costs.” According to Healthy People 2020 CKD and ESRD are important public health problems in our country and main cause of suffering and poor quality of life of affected people. They are “responsible for premature death and exact a high economic price from both the private and public sectors.” Both diseases are very expensive to treat. Closely 25% of Medicare budget is

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a common disorder and occurs in the elderly population. In younger patients, it

The American Nephrology Nurses’ Association (ANNA) is the professional association that represents nurses who work in all areas of nephrology. The ANNA was established in 1969, as a nonprofit organization. The organization promotes excellence in and appreciation of nephrology nursing so a positive impact can be made on the lives of people living with kidney disease. Members of the organization practice in areas such as hemodialysis, chronic kidney disease, peritoneal dialysis, acute care, and transplantation. ANNA believes that the demand for quality nephrology patient care will continue to grow in the future, particularly with the variety of changes occurring within health care. The American Nephrology Nurses’ Association acts consistently on their own core beliefs, including the responsibility of nephrology nurses to enhance the quality of care delivered to people with kidney disease. As an organization, the responsibility to provide the educational programs necessary to create, preserve, and augment competence in practice is their purpose. In addition to their values and purpose, the organization has outlined their desired outcomes. These include: more interaction and commitment of members to ANNA; more diversity in age, race, and gender, as well as professional levels and subspecialties. The ANNA believes that nephrology nurses are in a unique position to enhance the quality of care delivered to individuals living with kidney disease. The organization offers continuing education, with a focus on nephrology, in hopes of creating a larger impact on the care of these individuals. The ANNA believes that continuing education is essential to the development, maintenance, and augmentation of competence in practice. As well as, a team-based approach and inter-professional collaboration as the basis of

In October 2015 the number of Veterans being fee-based to outside healthcare facilities was rising. In order to decrease the fee-based costs and return our Veterans back to the Veterans Administration (VA) a peritoneal dialysis program needed to be created. The Nephrologist and Nurse Manager (NM) worked diligently to make sure the components of the program could be managed within the organization. A big obstacle found was getting buy-in from the nurses. Change has always been stressful for staff and this was going to be a big undertaking. When approaching the nurses the NM discussed how the program would benefit the patients and open up doors for other Veterans receiving hemodialysis. All Veteran care would now be at one facility which would

However, doing clinical research and shadowing in this hospital’s emergency department opened my eyes to the daily trials of medicine without any romanticized preconceptions. A large proportion of this patient population did not have medical insurance and patients were often homeless, addicted to drugs or alcohol, or in unfortunate living situations. These patients did not have anywhere else to go for treatment, so they treated the emergency department as their primary care center, showing up for anything from a broken fingernail to chronic diseases like CKD. Working with these patients was especially frustrating, because often times their problems could have been prevented had they been able to access earlier and better care. I saw a significant need for efforts to increase access to care, especially for the surprisingly high amount of patients who came in with late stages of chronic kidney disease. In that same vein, I started a program at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities called the Kidney Disease Screening and Awareness Program. This program is working with the University of Minnesota Department of Nephrology residents to hold community screenings every few months targeted at underserved populations, testing blood, urine, and other risk factors to test for chronic kidney disease. After seeing the work these emergency physicians and nephrologists have been able to accomplish both individually and in the

The amount of nephrons that would be lost if George was in the second stage of chronic renal

Underdiaxonsied and undertreated it is a major concern for the aging population of the United States. One of the first steps is educating the public on early detection techniques and risk factor for developing CKD. High blood pressure and diabetes is a major contributor in developing the disease and thus high risk factor groups should be identified early. This way the individuals can begin implementing lifestyle changes that can not only decrease the rate of kidney function decline but improve it as well. Management of the disease focus on the major complications. Anemia, dyslipidemia, CKD-MBD, nutrition and cardiovascular are the forefront of the disease management. Management with not only medications, but lifestyle changes creates a holistic care plan specialized to each individual patient. By treating not CKD but the individual patient, outcomes will improve. Implementing the health care team as a whole will unify the strengths in modern medicine and thus relieve a huge financial burden that chronic kidney disease yields at a national and local

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is a disease that is described as a loss of kidney function gradually over time. As kidney function decreases, the waste collection in the body’s blood becomes high and makes the individual feel sick. This disease can lead to other complications in the body such as anemia, poor nutritional health, high blood pressure, and nerve damage. These complications will begin to progress and show as CKD progresses to advanced stages. Early detection of this disease is essential when it comes to treatment. If CKD is diagnosed early enough the disease progression can be slowed down and managed. This disease will eventually lead to failure of the kidneys

Strategic Planning: Due to the current issues, both internally and externally, the organization is facing, Dr. Townsend is challenged to prepare an action plan to implement the proposed strategy needed to restore the organization back to financial health and improve the morale among the physicians and support staff. Another course of planning Dr. Townsend will challenge is the organizations old structure into a way that all patients will be satisfied.

Trinity Hospital is a 150-bed facility located in the southeast United States. The hospital offers a range of services varying from internal medicine to neurology, and boasts a dedicated nursing staff and community-recognized excellence in patient care. While the hospital stands out in terms of excellence in several distinct areas of patient care, Board members an other higher-ups within the Trinity community have begun strategically planning for significant upgrades to the hospital in terms of what type of care is offered to patients being treated at Trinity. A strategic plan targeting oncology, orthopedic, and cardiovascular care has been developed in hopes of generated new revenue, new clientele, and new status for the hospital should these plans be carried out.

At the end of our 2 weeks of data gathering and completing the study, the group aims to accomplish the following:

The significance of community hospitals such as Community Hospital in Monmouth County, New Jersey, is greater than one may expect for primary and secondary care services provided to the local communities around the United States. Community Hospital’s mission is to provide exceptional primary care. However, with the declination of profitability in primary care, Community Hospital has had to compete with Shore University Medical Center (SUMC) and University Hospital (UH) for revenue restoration. The decline of Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements and the steady progression toward specialty care vs. primary care require a core alteration to the mission statement to adjust to the changes within the current healthcare system. A newly modified mission and vision statement will prove that Community Hospital has the ability to regain its relevance within the healthcare industry as a leading primary care provider in the community and increase its revenue. The implementation of the new mission and vision for Community Hospital is expected to be upheld without compromising the core values of compassion, advancement, reputation, efficiency, and physician integration. A few proposed strategies to help Community Hospital create a new and improved business model, may seem cumbersome and challenging, however could greatly improve the overall direction of Community Hospital.