Transition-to-dialysis planning, health care use, and mortality in end-stage renal disease

A planned transition to dialysis was associated with improved outcomes and lower mortality. These findings may inform care coordination policies for end-stage renal disease. Findings from this retrospective cohort study indicate that patients with stages 3a and 3b chronic kidney disease (CKD) were more likely to experience an unplanned transition to dialysis than individuals with advanced CKD stages 4 and 5. Individuals with earlier stages of CKD represent an important focus for policies to address this care gap, because compared with those who had an unplanned transition, patients with a suboptimally or optimally planned dialysis transition were 57% to 72% less likely to die, and 20% to 37% less likely to experience and inpatient stay.

Read article: American Journal of Managed Care