Implementing KDOQI CKD definition and staging guidelines in Southern California Kaiser Permanente.

We outline the experience of Southern California Kaiser Permanente, a large integrated health maintenance organization, in implementing the chronic kidney disease (CKD) definition and staging guidelines of the Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (KDOQI) from 2002 to 2008, including estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) implementation, algorithm for GFR range assignment and reassignment, and practical modifications of CKD staging for population management. We departed from the KDOQI CKD definition and staging as follows: for stages 1 to 2, we required "macroproteinuria" rather than "microalbuminuria" as the marker of kidney damage; for stage 3, we included individuals with macroproteinuria, diabetes mellitus based on diabetic registry, or eGFR + 1/2 age less than 85; and for stage 5, we included only individuals not receiving renal replacement therapy. In an adult population of 2.5 million members, we identified 2.9% (72,005) for CKD population management (0.1%, 0.2%, 1.7%, 0.15%, and 0.01% with stages 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively). Outpatient visits with a nephrologist in the past 12 months for the prevalent CKD population increased modestly from 2003 to 2008 from 20% to 24%. Nephrologists see a higher risk subset, including 77% of patients with stages 4 to 5, 45% of prevalent patients with CKD stages 1 to 5 with the last urine protein level greater than approximately 1 g, and 21% of patients with stage 3 in the past 12 months, but only 4% of patients with eGFR of 30 to 59 mL/min/1.73 m(2) not meeting our criteria for stage 3. Primary care providers see the majority of patients with stages 1 to 5 in the course of a year (85%) and are aware of kidney disease (79% coded for kidney disease). Other quality indicators during the 12-month window include the following: for patients with prevalent CKD stages 1 to 5, a total of 56% with last blood pressure greater than 129/79 mm Hg, 21% missing qualitative proteinuria, 16% missing angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker, 11% missing low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, 40% with low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level greater than 100 mg/dL, 50% of patients with diabetes with hemoglobin A(1c) level of 7% or greater; for prevalent patients with CKD stages 3 to 5, a total of 14% missing hemoglobin level and 13% with hemoglobin level less than 11 mg/dL; and for prevalent patients with CKD stages 4 to 5, a total of 2.5 hospital d/patient and 62% not attending instructional classes for modalities of renal replacement therapy. Optimal start of end-stage renal disease therapy, defined as the proportion of patients with stages 4 to 5 who either started peritoneal dialysis therapy directly, started hemodialysis therapy using an arteriovenous fistula, or received a preemptive renal transplant, was 54%. Comprehensive CKD care is possible within a large health maintenance organization, but with substantial opportunity for improvement remaining.

Going beyond the kidney disease outcomes quality initiative: hemodialysis access experience at Kaiser Permanente Southern California.

In 1996, as part of Kaiser Permanente Southern California's participation in the Medicare End-Stage Renal Disease Managed Care Demonstration Project, a multidisciplinary continuous quality improvement (CQI) committee was formed, which included nephrologists, vascular surgeons, interventional radiologists, care managers, a renal quality-improvement nursing director, and renal program administrators. The goal of this report was to analyze the impact of this CQI program on hemodialysis outcomes within the organization. Kaiser Permanente is a national, integrated, nonprofit, staff model health maintenance organization with 8 million members. The southern California region has 3.1 million members and currently manages the health care of 3,700 hemodialysis patients, 300 peritoneal dialysis patients, and 1,000 kidney transplant patients. Thirty-one vascular surgeons and 29 interventional radiologists provide for their hemodialysis access needs. The Kidney Disease Dialysis Outcomes Quality Initiative (K/DOQI) guidelines were adopted, as well as measures to perform more venous transpositions and less common arteriovenous fistulas (AVFs) before graft placement. The outcomes assessed included incidence and prevalence of AVFs, grafts, and catheters; replacement access with AVFs; and combined AVF and graft thrombosis episodes per patient per year. Primary AVF incidence rates increased from 27% in 1997 to 88% in 2003. AVF prevalence rates increased from 30% in 1997 to 62% in 2003. Replacement access which is an AVF increased from 26% in 1998 to 58% in 2003. Yearly thrombosis episodes/patient decreased from 0.62 in 1998 to 0.34 in 2003. Catheter usage as of 2003 comprised an incidence of 65% and prevalence (> or =90 days) of 13%, which was essentially unchanged from 1999, despite improvements in fistula usage and thrombosis rate. The rate of AVF prevalence can be increased dramatically, exceeding the 40% K/DOQI recommendation, by using the CQI process. Increased prevalence of AVF is associated with a lower yearly incidence of thrombosis episodes/patient. Reducing excessive catheter usage appears to be a more difficult problem.