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DTX40 Sessions – Thursday, March 30

8:15 – 9:05 am

Growth in Home Modalities

Graham Abra, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Stanford University and Chief Medical Officer, Home Therapies, Satellite Healthcare

Andrea Brown, MBA, CSSBB, Vice President, Home Therapies Operations and Systems, Fresenius Medical Care

Mihran Naljayan, MD, MHA, FASN, FNKF, Chief Medical Officer – Home Modalities, DaVita Kidney Care

With the increasing demand for home dialysis treatments, each of the three leading dialysis providers are focusing on effective and efficient ways to deliver necessary dialysis services at the patient's home. This panel will discuss the challenges that the current and future growth in home modalities that need solutions and how dialysis technicians can play a key role in meeting these challenges.

9:05 – 9:55 am

Quality of Treatment/Outcomes Case Studies

Kathleen Belmonte, BSN, MGHIHP, MBA, Chief Nursing Office and SVP, Clinical Services, Fresenius Kidney Care

Kristi Ricord, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, Director of Clinical Services, DaVita

This interactive session will provide ways that nephrology clinical technicians and biomedical technologists can work to improve the quality of the treatment of their dialysis patients so that they can enjoy better outcomes. Be prepared to listen, talk, and learn.

10:30 – 11:20 am

Key Technical Leaders

Ricardo Barragan, Senior Director of Biomedical Operations, Satellite Healthcare

Mark Gray, Vice President of Technical Services, Fresenius Kidney Care

Ted Kasparek, Senior Director to Technical Operations, DaVita

What changes are on the horizon? What are the critical issues to be addressed to achieve improved patient outcomes? These key technical leaders will share their insights during this session.

11:20 am – 12:10 pm

Dealing with Civic Unrest

Troy Burlson, Owner, MiB *(Men in Black) Disaster Response Solutions. Inc.

What do you do when there is a civic demonstration that prevents your patients from safely entering your clinic for their dialysis treatment? How do you create a safe environment even when people are demonstrating in your parking lot because an unfortunate incident – unrelated to your clinic? This session will provide concrete ideas you can use to help your clinic weather these difficult situations to ensure your patients’ access to their necessary treatments.

Afternoon Concurrent Sessions

1:30 – 2:20 pm

Biomedical

Security Issues During Civil Unrest – What YOU Can Do to Help Your Clinics NOW to Deal with Future Issues

Troy Burleson, MIB Enterprises

This morning’s general session focused on what to do if civil unrest directly impacts your patient’s access to and well being during treatment.  This afternoon’s session will provide specific solutions of what you can do NOW to help the clinics you work in to be ready for this challenge.

Clinical

How Technicians Can Better Educate Their Patients about Transplant

Kelly Mayo, MS, Chief Administration Officer and Vice President of Administration, Health Services Advisory Group,  Inc. (HSAG)

The ESRD Treatment Choices Learning Collaborative wants to work with dialysis technicians to help them better inform and educate patients on their choice for transplant. This session will provide specific tools and techniques to help their patients best understand the options for transplant and how it can affect their quality of life.

Professional Development

How to Play a Bigger Role in the Patient Health Care Team: How to Get Invited / How to Have a Voice

Amanda Myers, DaVita

Amanda started in dialysis as a clinical technician – and she wanted to climb her dialysis career ladder. She now serves as a Facility Administrator.  This session will provide the solutions to the challenges Amanda faced in her desire to play a bigger role in the patient health care team. Here’s a technician who has been invited to participate at a higher level and who has learned how to have an effective voice on the health care team – and she wants to share what she has learned with her fellow technicians.

2:20 – 3:10 pm

Biomedical

History of Continuous Improvement as Methodology

Zane Greear, Fresenius Kidney Care

Where did Continuous Improvement come from? How has it developed? What does this all mean to the specifics of improving the quality of care for the CKD patient?  This session will answer all these questions – and more.

Clinical / Professional Development

Infection Control: Work as Imagined vs. Work as Done

Sarah Parker, Virginia Tech Carilion Strategic Partnership

Infection prevention is one of the most challenging issues in outpatient dialysis. Our team of human factors engineers with collaborators from ASN have been working to help understand how the design of work in outpatient dialysis might be impacting engagement in infection prevention. Sarah’s work has focused on understanding human performance in complex healthcare settings, and she and the team are now applying the science of human factors to outpatient dialysis to ultimately improve safety for patients and staff.

3:40 – 4:30 pm

Biomedical

Supply Chain Issues

Curtis Wood, Renal Therapy Group, FMCNA

Supply chain issues continue to impact dialysis providers. This session will outline the issues involved, and suggest reasonable work-arounds and solutions to ensure the best quality of care for the CKD patient.

Clinical

Building Relationships between In-Center and Home Delivery

CKD patients can change their dialysis modality based on a number of factors.  Building strong relationships between the in-center and home delivery providers can help improve the quality of care for the patient – no matter where they receive it.

Professional Development

Being an Effective Member of the Health Care Team

Ryan White, Shelba Jones, FMCNA

Both Shelba Jones and Ryan White serve as PCTIII Fellows for Fresenius.  Both have tried and true tips, tools, and techniques of how you, a technician, can become a more effective member of the CKD patient health care team.

4:30 – 5:20 pm

Survey Prep from a Technician Point of View

Gail Dewald

As a Clinical or Biomedical Technician, you are a pivotal player in a successful regulatory survey.  As a surveyor for National Dialysis Accreditation Commission, Gail will present her experience with the safety pitfalls found at dialysis facilities.  Go back to your facility with "new eyes" and information to improve your practice.