A Short History of Vascular Access Care

The person doing these procedures should have three attributes, and if they don’t possess these three they shouldn’t be doing it at all, said Beathard. “Number one, they need to know dialysis and dialysis patients. Number two, they need to know and understand vascular access. Number three, they need to have some technical skills in doing these procedures. That, in itself, is no more important than the other two.”

This emerging field also started to attract a group of physicians to enter into nephrology practice that perhaps in the past wouldn’t have been interested, added Beathard. “It adds a new dimension. When I talk to my colleagues that are in academic medicine, who have programs, they tell me they see two things. One, they’re seeing a different type of person interested in nephrology, with interventional nephrology added into it. Secondly, there is a larger pool of individuals who have an interest. I think it’s increasing the numbers as well as the type of individual.”

Nephrologists, however, ran into a problem when they started getting interesting in vascular surgery: They didn’t have a venue in which to do it because of turf issues, said Beathard. “The hospital angiographic suites were closed to most of them, not all, but most of them. Then they were left to figure out where they could do it. You could set up an outpatient center, but how do you do it? It’s also very expensive to set up.” This is what led to company’s such as Lifeline, which Beathard has been a part of since 2000, to step in and help. “Lifeline came in and said this is something we’re going to do,” he added. “We’ll set it up, and we’ll train you and manage it for you. All you have to do is show up and take care of your patients. That has also had a major impact.” RBT