BIRCHWOOD, Wisc.— The Forum of ESRD Networks announces the second annual Creating a Culture of Quality conference, to be held on September 11 and 12, 2012, in Baltimore.
This conference is a collaboration among numerous stakeholders from the renal community including the Forum of ESRD Networks, the Renal Physicians Association, Fresenius, DaVita and Dialysis Clinic, Inc. The topic of this year’s conference is “Pursuing Excellence in Care Transitions; Enhancing Safety in Kidney Patient Care” and will include sessions presented by nationally known quality and patient safety experts.
We expect an audience of more than 200 physicians, quality managers and others concerned with improving kidney patient safety and care. The keynote presentation will be given by Patrick Conway, MD, MSc, chief medical officer and director of the Office of Clinical Standards and Quality at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
The conference will take place at the Baltimore‐Washington Airport Marriot and will have an afternoon session on September 11, and all day sessions on September 12. The meeting will consist of three sessions. The first session will frame the question by discussing the importance of transition between providers in safely caring for kidney patients. The speakers are drawn from Networks, dialysis organizations, and academic circles. They will present data and discuss opportunities for improvement when kidney patients transition from one location of care to another.
The second session of the meeting will deal with barriers to improving the safe transfer of patients. Among the discussions during this session will be an analysis of HIPAA regulations as a barrier to information exchange; an evaluation of data from large dialysis organizations and discussions with their leadership concerning what they are doing to improve safety for patients during transitions; and the results of Network projects to enhance continuity of care.
The final session will involve teaching the audience participants what information is necessary for an efficient and safe transfer of care. The audience will then use all that they have learned during the preceding sessions to evaluate and modify existing documents and processes in order to ensure safe transitions of care. Registration will be open in mid‐July. Abstracts for posters on quality‐related projects will be accepted through mid‐August. Additional information will be available on the Forum of ESRD Networks’ website at: www.esrdnetworks.org.
