NephTalk a nephrology podcast by Satellite Healthcare

https://hdexcellence.org/
On the new NephTalk, Dr. Graham Abra, MD, Satellite Healthcare’s Chief Medical Officer for Home Therapies; and Ken Leidner, Chief Growth Officer at Satellite Healthcare, discuss HDAE, an educational, immersion program created through a collaboration between Stanford Medicine, the University of California Davis Health and Satellite Healthcare. HDAE is designed to provide Nephrology Fellows with a wide and deep understanding of the value and application of home dialysis as a therapeutic option to promote health and wellness for people with end stage kidney disease.

“The number one question I get from patients is, 'How can I change my diet to improve my kidney function or slow progression of kidney disease?' I can do the medical therapy in terms of other comorbid and disease management. But honestly, I don’t have the knowledge base that my colleagues in nutrition have. New Day's registered dietitians provide ongoing medical nutrition therapy and that’s a game changer.”
Dr. Randolph Chen, MD, Nephrologist Medical Advisor, Satellite Healthcare
Rory Pace, MPH, RD, CSR, FAND
Director of Nutrition Services, Satellite Healthcare General Manager, New Day Nutrition

“The big shift is to try to keep people off of dialysis. If we can move upstream and better manage and provide care for CKD patients, chronic kidney disease patients; slow the progression, and then make sure they have optimal starts, and encourage more transplantation and home dialysis, then we're going to improve patient outcomes and we're also going to be saving costs. Both of those together is a win-win.”

Dr. Kay Ghista, Vice President
CKD and Transplant Care Management, Satellite Healthcare

“We always have to ask ourselves, ‘What is of value to the patient? What does the patient need?’ The Kidney Care Connection will answer these needs, not by telling them what we can offer, but them telling us what they need to live well. That is revolutionary. That is transformative.”
Dr. Brigitte Schiller, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Satellite Healthcare
with Dr. Wael Hussein, MD, Vice-President, Research and Development, Satellite Healthcare
Christopher Springmann: You have said, Dr. Schiller, and I'm quoting here, "One way of thinking about how to receive the best healthcare possible is to ask ourselves, 'What would we want for our loved ones?'" With the Kidney Care Connection model, you've said, you're very confident that this will be a better care model, more attention, more compassionate and calming. That's quite a mandate.
Dr. Schiller: We're an ambitious and well-intended organization and have been for 40-plus years. I'm glad you bring this up because this is, actually, the mantra of Satellite Healthcare. We lead as a caring dialysis organization. That is our differentiator. Approaching it from this very personal aspect makes a better care model, and we have brought the experience of several nephrologists, many healthcare-experienced professionals, to this concept of the Kidney Care Connection.
CS: Dr. Hussein, I've read several of your quotes in which you discuss starting dialysis, and I'm quoting here: “ . . . where new patients are thrown into the mix, overwhelmed with the educational needs. And you've quoted patients who describe starting dialysis—well, they have used the word "terrifying." Is it your intent that the Kidney Care Connection will help alleviate fears and anxieties that patients have expressed in the past?
Dr. Hussein: The current dialysis model in the center is based on fast and efficient and has to be safe delivery of hemodialysis care, and that means a very rapid turnaround and getting the patients on and off very quickly. That might be okay for somebody who's used to the type of care that they're getting. For somebody who's new, coming in for the first time, patients describe it to us that it's a very fearful situation, that they feel like their life might be ending. They don't know what to expect. You do not want to start that period of your life in that situation, in that scenario. The Kidney Care Connection is something similar to a transitional care unit but in a more advanced way, and that is to have more staff dedicated to that period of your life.

https://www.satellitehealthcare.com/podcasts/building-trust-earning-trust

“I really enjoy building relationships with my patients. I typically meet them when they have a serious problem. And I’m normally able to just fix it and take care of it. It’s one of the most fulfilling things about my practice, to be able to follow up with these patients and see their progress.”

Dr. Lindsey Pierce, MD
Medical Director
Tri-County Vascular Center

(From program trailer). Are Nephrology practices ready for the new world of Value-Based Care or VBC? On the new NephTalk you’ll learn that VBC is the way medical reimbursement will be determined in the future.

Tell me about the responses you're receiving from potential early adopters of the NNA, the National Nephrology Alliance?
As we've talked to several dozens of groups across the nation, there have been some consistent themes, and the word "Crossroads" has come up probably in every conversation.

Crossroads?

Every practice we've talked to has brought that up that they see the transition from fee for service to value- based care. They've all said that the path forward is uncertain for them, and they're looking for partners, for options.

That’s Ravin Bisla, Senior Vice President of Growth Initiatives for Satellite Healthcare and Chief Development Officer for the National Nephrology Alliance.
Where do you envision the NNA in the next two to five years?
To a large size where we can start to advocate for our patients at a policy level. So that we can say, we have 200-300 physicians.
You're talking about developing clout and influence.
That's an accurate way to assess that. In creating NNA, part of what we're saying is that we can join together and have a much, much louder voice by acting as one.