Impact of a kidney‐specific disease‐specific care certification program on the institutional performance indicators of hospitals caring for patients with chronic kidney disease: A national data analysis. Issue 8 (4th July 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chao, Chia‐Ter; Chang, Ching‐I; Wang, Pa‐Chun; Chiang, Ching‐Feng; Chen, Chia‐Pei; Hsu, Hui‐Shu; Hung, Kuan‐Yu
• Is Part Of: Nephrology. Volume 26:Issue 8(2021)
• Page Start: 669
• Page End: 675
• Publication Date: 2021-07-04
• Subjects: albumin -- anaemia -- chronic kidney disease -- disease‐specific care certificate -- malnutrition -- quality of care; Nephrology -- Periodicals; Kidneys -- Diseases -- Periodicals; Nephrologists -- Periodicals; 616.61; 616.61
• DOI: 10.1111/nep.13901
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1320-5358

Abstract

Abstract: Aim: The prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is on the rise due to population aging and multimorbidity. Taiwan is particularly afflicted by this prevailing ailment. Although multidisciplinary pre‐dialysis care has been implemented to halt CKD progression and reduce health‐care utilization in Taiwan, more is needed to reduce the local burden of CKD. Methods: The Taiwan Joint Commission initiated a kidney‐care disease‐specific care (DSC) certification program since 2017, aiming to improve participating hospitals' quality of care for kidney disease and to synchronize the quality of kidney care across Taiwan. We analysed the trend of changes over time among the kidney DSC certification program participating institutes during the period before, during, and after DSC certification program implementation, using the Generalized Estimating Equation methods. Results: A total of 20 institutes participated in the DSC certification program focusing on kidney diseases between January 2018 and March 2020, among which 70% were medical centres. DSC certification program was shown to significantly reduce the annual incidence of arteriovenous fistula reconstruction while increase the levels of serum albumin and haemoglobin among patients with end‐stage renal disease (ESRD) under haemodialysis over time. For parameters related to peritoneal dialysis (PD), participating in the kidney‐care DSC certification program significantly increased serum albumin levels among these patients with ESRD over time. Conclusion: In this study, we discovered that a kidney‐care DSC certification program significantly improved multiple performance indicators of participating institutes including patients' haemoglobin, albumin, and shunt re‐creation probability among patients with end‐stage renal disease. SUMMARY AT A GLANCE: This study investigated the impact of the Kidney‐care Disease Specific Care (DSC) Certification Program in Taiwan on the performance indicators of facilities treating patients with chronic kidney disease, and found that the program significantly improved patients' haemoglobin, serum albumin, and reduced the probability of shunt re‐creation in patients with end‐stage renal disease.