MADISON, Wisc.—The Health Information Resource Center (HIRC) has awarded Kidney School with the 2011 Web Health Award.
The award honors the best digital health resources in several categories. Kidney School received a SILVER award in the website category. The awards were announced May 23. A complete list of winners and categories can be requested at webhealthawards.com.
Kidney School is a free online education program for people with stages 3–5 chronic kidney disease (CKD). Since it was first launched in 2002, Kidney School has become the largest CKD education program in the world, reaching more than 36,000 unique visitors per year. Kidney School was completely redesigned and updated in 2010.
Kidney School has sixteen interactive modules written at the 6th grade level to help patients and family members learn about kidney disease, treatment options, coping skills, lab tests, diet and nutrition, and more. Kidney School is free and can be accessed 24/7 at kidneyschool.org. No log-in or registration is required. Large-type, full-color PDFs of each module can be downloaded and printed, and MP3 audio files, added in June 2010, are available for each module.
Dialysis educators can also use Kidney School to help meet patient education requirements established by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS). Kidney School teaches patients how to self-manage their chronic disease, and discusses all of the topics required by CMS, including treatment options information. Certificates of completion can be used to document patient education efforts. Dialysis educators can order free Kidney School postcards online to give to their patients.
