Kidney Education and Resources

Support Groups

Download our Virtual Peer Support information sheet.

Regional Support Groups

Virtual Support Groups

Home Dialysis Central (HDC) Discussion Groups

National Kidney Foundation (NKF) Online Community and Helpline

  • Kidney Transplant on HealthUnlocked
    Online community where you can share your experiences, ask questions and get answers that are accurate and up to date. Visit https://healthunlocked.com/nkf-kidneytransplant/about.
  • NKF Cares
    Helpline offering support for people affected by kidney disease. Designed for patients, family members and care partners. Call 1-855-NKF-CARES (855-653-2273) or email nkfcares@kidney.org.
  • NKF Peers
    Speak with a peer mentor who shares your experiences with dialysis, transplant, living kidney donation or COVID-19. Visit https://www.kidney.org/patients/peers to learn more.

 

If you know of a support group not listed here, please fill out this form so we can add it to our list.

 

Other Resources for Patients

We encourage patients to bring questions about these resources to their health care team.

Health care professionals who use these resources are responsible for evaluating the appropriateness of the content.

  • American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP)
    Organization for kidney patients that provides educational material about treatment options and resources.
    http://www.aakp.org
  • American Kidney Fund (AKF)
    Kidney health awareness, education and prevention, along with financial assistance to help low-income dialysis and transplant patients access health care.
    http://www.kidneyfund.org
  • Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)
    Infection prevention for dialysis patients, including dialysis access.
    https://www.cdc.gov/dialysis/patient
  • Dialysis Patient Depression Toolkit
    Depression toolkit designed by patients for patients with contributions from professional collaborators.
    English | Spanish
  • Depression & Dialysis: Removing the Stigma and Strengthening our Mental Health
    Recording and slides of October 2018 webinar hosted by patient leaders in collaboration with AAKP and NKF.
    https://bit.ly/3jsAByW
  • Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Internet Access Assistance Program
    FCC Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) that provides eligible households with a discount on broadband internet services and connected devices.
    https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/acp-flyer-i.pdf
  • Home Dialysis Central
    Information for kidney patients about all types of treatment options.
    https://www.homedialysis.org
  • Kidney School
    Dialysis-related learning modules for patients and staff.
    https://www.kidneyschool.org
  • My Kidney Life Plan
    Tool to assist patients with selecting a treatment option to fit their lifestyle
    https://mykidneylifeplan.org
  • Medical Education Institute (MEI) Life Options Rehabilitation
    Materials for kidney patients about treatment options, rehabilitation and maintaining an active lifestyle.
    http://www.lifeoptions.org
  • National Coordinating Center (NCC)
    Educational materials for the ESRD community, including new dialysis patients.
    https://esrdncc.org/en/patients
  • National Kidney Foundation (NKF)
    Information and resources for kidney patients about kidney disease and treatment options
    http://www.kidney.org
  • Neighborhood Navigator (AAFP)
    Interactive tool to connect patients with resources in their community
    https://www.aafp.org/family-physician/patient-care/the-everyone-project/neighborhood-navigator.html
  • Renal Support Network (RSN)
    Patient-run organization providing support for patients affected by chronic kidney disease.
    https://www.rsnhope.org

 

Decreasing Patient-Provider Conflict

The Decreasing Dialysis Patient-Provider Conflict Toolkit provides resources to help nurses, physicians, social workers, patient care technicians, dieticians, administrators, unit secretaries and all other staff involved in the daily operations of the dialysis clinic to better understand, respond to and decrease conflict.

The DPC Toolkit is designed to help:

  • Create safe dialysis facilities
  • Provide training resources for handling conflict
  • Improve patient-provider relations
  • Improve patient-provider satisfaction with the dialysis experience

Decreasing Dialysis Patient-Provider Conflict Toolkit

Decreasing Patient-Provider Conflict (DPC) Revised Modules 2024

Kidney Transplant

A kidney transplant is when a kidney from another person (living or deceased) is placed inside your body to do the work that your own kidneys can no longer do. With a kidney transplant you can live a normal life and do not require any form of dialysis while the kidney continues to function. Every patient has the right to be referred and evaluated for a transplant.

You need to pass some medical tests to get a transplant. These tests look to see if your body is healthy enough for the surgery and if you will be able to take the medications needed after surgery to help your body adapt to the new kidney.

Trained staff work with you to determine if transplant is right for you. If you have been told by one transplant center that you are not a candidate, you may qualify at another transplant center with different criteria.

Your doctor should discuss all of the risks and benefits of kidney transplant. Transplants are not always successful. If your transplant fails, you can still pursue other treatment options and get back on the transplant list.

Selecting a Transplant Center

Kidney transplant centers have varying criteria for patients. Use the Kidney Transplant Compare tool to find the best match for your needs. You can search, save and compare centers by medical criteria, support services, wait times, survival rates and location.

Living Kidney Donation

Oregon Transplant Centers

Washington Transplant Centers

Kidney Transplant Resources

Transplant Financial Assistance

Vocational Rehabilitation

Comagine Health’s ESRD Network strives to promote optimal care for people with end-stage renal disease. Optimal care includes not only safe and quality care, but also efforts to improve patient independence, quality of life and rehabilitation. The CMS Conditions for Coverage for ESRD Facilities require facilities to assist patients with an individualized vocational rehabilitation (VR) plan.

These VR resources can help you provide optimal care for your patients and fulfill the Conditions for Coverage.

Comagine Health ESRD — for Staff

Comagine Health ESRD — for Patients

Social Security Administration

*Available in other languages at https://www.ssa.gov.

Home Dialysis Central

Additional Resources

 

The Network is here to support your vocational rehabilitation efforts and to help remove any barriers. If you have any suggestions or comments or would like technical assistance, please call Lisa Hall, MSSW, LICSW, patient services director, at 206-923-0714, ext. 4213.

Involuntary Discharge

The Conditions for Coverage for ESRD Facilities require notification to both the Network and the State Survey Agency of involuntary discharges and transfers. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) expects the Network and State Survey Agencies to work collaboratively to ensure facilities follow the ESRD regulatory requirements and to protect the rights of ESRD patients.

Involuntary discharge (IVD) should be the option of last resort. Discharged patients are at high risk for morbidity and mortality. Most challenging situations can be successfully managed through effective assessment, care planning, interventions, and collaboration between providers and patients.

The Network is available for consultation regarding challenging situations and should be contacted as a resource for technical assistance and education.

This webpage is intended to help dialysis facilities comply with CMS and ESRD Network requirements related to IVDs. It includes actions facilities should take and a checklist of the documents that must be sent to the Network.

 

Facility Actions — When Patients Are at Risk For IVD
  • Notify the Network prior to initiating an IVD. Call the Patient Services Department at 206-923-0714. Network staff will review the issues and explore possible interventions with the facility.
  • Follow your facility’s existing policy and procedure for IVD. It is the medical director’s responsibility to ensure that there is a clearly documented policy and procedure in place for IVDs.

    The ESRD federal regulations (see Interpretive Guidelines V766, V767 and V520) specify that no patient should be discharged or transferred from the facility unless: 1) The patient or payer no longer reimburses the facility for the ordered services; 2) The facility ceases to operate; 3) The transfer is necessary for the patient’s welfare because the facility can no longer meet the patient’s documented medical needs; 4) The facility has reassessed the patient and determined the patient’s behavior is disruptive and abusive to the extent that the delivery of care to the patient or the ability of the facility to operate effectively is seriously impaired; or 5) The patient is an immediate severe threat to the health and safety of others. In cases of immediate severe threat to the health and safety of others, the facility may use an abbreviated procedure.

    See also Medical Director Responsibilities for Management of Involuntary Discharges.

  • Train facility staff. All staff should be trained on IVD policies and procedures and conflict management techniques. Training modules for decreasing patient-provider conflict are on our Decreasing Patient-Provider Conflict webpage.
  • Document all problems with patients. This includes all meetings, assessments, root cause analyses, interventions, patient grievances, written behavior agreements, etc. The regulations require that any patient considered at risk for involuntary discharge and transfer be considered unstable, and therefore reassessed monthly.
  • IVD should be the option of last resort. If all documented efforts to resolve the problem have failed, including consultation with the ESRD Network, then the facility, under direction of the medical director, can proceed with IVD. The Facility Actions checklist in the next section provides the required steps in accordance with the Conditions for Coverage.

 

Facility Actions — When the Decision Has Been Made to IVD a Patient
  • Notify the Network and follow up with required records within five business days of patient notification of discharge.
  • Notify the State Survey Agency of the IVD. Fill out the State Notification of Involuntary Discharge/Transfer form, then print and fax it to the state. State Survey office fax numbers are at the end of this page.
  • Document all actions related to the IVD in the patient’s medical record.
    • Description of problems and steps taken toward resolution
    • Reassessments
    • Root cause analysis
  • Required documents: Fax the following documents to the Network Patient Services Department at 206-923-0716.
    • Progress notes describing the problems and attempts toward resolution
    • Physician order to discharge the patient, signed by the attending nephrologist and the medical director
    • All letters, behavioral agreements and written communications regarding the issues
    • For immediate severe threat discharges, a copy of the incident report and/or police report
    • Documentation that the State Survey Agency was contacted
    • Documentation of attempts to place the patient in another outpatient dialysis facility
  • Report the patient as an IVD in EQRS upon the last day of treatment.

 

Medical Director Responsibilities for Management of IVDs

The medical director has specific responsibilities and accountability to the governing body for patient care and outcomes and is responsible for ensuring that the interdisciplinary team adheres to discharge and transfer policies. Code of Federal Regulations 42 CFR 494.180 (f) contains the reasons for involuntary discharge or transfer and the medical director’s responsibilities.

The Medical Advisory Council of the Forum of ESRD Networks’ Medical Director Toolkit contains an excellent section, “Dealing with Problem Patients in the Unit.”

 

State ESRD Surveyor Phone and Fax Numbers

Alaska
Phone: 907-334-2483
Fax: 907-334-2682

Idaho
Phone: 208-334-6626
Fax: 208-364-1888

Montana
Phone: 406-444-2099
Fax: 406-444-3456

Oregon
Phone: 971-673-3269
Fax: 971-673-0556

Washington
Phone: 360-236-4681
Fax: 360-359-7958

 

 

ESRD Network 16 is under contract with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The contents of this document do not necessarily reflect CMS policy.

EQRS

EQRS Training and Support

Network Resources

CMS Resources

Applying for EQRS Access

Admission/Discharge Instructions

Updating Patient Attributes/Attribute History

CMS Forms 2728 and 2746

CMS-2744 (Annual Facility Survey)

The CMS-2744A is completed annually by all Medicare-certified dialysis facilities. It collects information about patient and treatment counts at a dialysis facility for the prior calendar year along with facility and staffing information.

The CMS-2744B is completed annually by all Medicare-certified transplant centers and collects information about kidney transplants performed, Medicare information and patients awaiting transplant.

Network staff are available for 30-minute, one-on-one appointments to help you complete the CMS-2744.

Make an appointment


CMS-2744 Resources

Network Resources

CMS Resources

Patients and Families

Comagine Health ESRD provides information, resources and assistance to dialysis and kidney transplant patients in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.

Information and Resources

Contact Us

The Network is here to help with any concerns you have about your care. Please contact us:

  • If you want information and resources
  • If you want to talk with someone about your care
  • If you want the Network to help you and your facility find a solution for your concerns
  • If you want the Network to investigate potential adverse clinical outcomes or violation of rights
  • If you want the Network to forward your concerns to Medicare or your state Department of Health

Patient Toll-Free Phone: 800-262-1514

Fax: 206-923-0716

Comagine Health ESRD Network 16
P.O. Box 33400
Seattle, WA 98133

Governance and Compliance

Network 16

Board of Directors

New board members of ESRD Network 16 are elected by the Network board of directors through a selection process of the board’s nominating committee. Annual elections are completed no later than January 31 each year. Board members serve staggering terms from one to three years with one-third of the board turning over each year. There is a mandatory rotation of board members after six consecutive years. All board members serve with no compensation other than per diem for in-person board meetings.

If you are interested in serving on the Network 16 board of directors, please contact Stephanie Hutchinson at shutchinson@comagine.org.

Board Members

Nancy Colobong-Smith MN, ARNP, CNN
Chair
Current term length: 1 year
Initial appointment: 2017
Max board term: 2021
Affiliation: University of Washington
Profession: Nurse
State: Washington

Katrina Russell, RN, CNN
Current term length: 3 years
Initial appointment: 2016
Max board term: 2022
Affiliation: Dialysis Consulting Group
Profession: Nurse
State: Washington

Scott Bieber, DO
Profession: Physician
State: Idaho

John Stivelman, MD
Board Member — Medical Review Board Chair
Current term length: 2 years
Initial appointment: 2016
Max board term: Appointed; no max term
Affiliation: University of Washington/Northwest Kidney Center
Profession: Physician
State: Washington

 

Roger Gravgaard
Board Member — Patient Advisory Council Representative
Current term length: 3 years
Initial appointment: 2016
Max board term: Appointed; no max term
Affiliation: Business owner
Profession: Patient SME
State: Montana

Christine Logar, MD
Board Member
Current term length: 3 years
Initial appointment: 2019
Max board term: 2025
Affiliation: Swedish
Profession: Physician
State: Washington

Jessie Pavlinac, MS, RD, CSR, LD
Board Member — Medical Review Board Vice Chair
Current term length: 2 years
Initial appointment: 2016
Max board term: Appointed; no max term
Affiliation: OHSU
Profession: Dietician
State: Oregon

Angie West
Board Member
Affiliation: Fresenius
State: Washington

 

Medical Review Board

The medical review board (MRB) consists of representatives of professional disciplines in ESRD care, including two patient representatives. The MRB evaluates the quality and appropriateness of care delivered to patients with end-stage renal disease. The board of directors reviews nominations and approves the membership of the MRB. The MRB determines the terms of its membership. Members serve without compensation.

Functions of the MRB include:

  • Advising the Network on the care and appropriate placement of ESRD patients on dialysis in the Network service area
  • Setting standards regarding physician management of patient discharges that encourages all patients be maintained in consistent dialysis care regardless of patient compliance
  • Advising the Network on all work associated with the statement of work

If you are interested in serving on the Network 16 medical review board, please contact Stephanie Hutchinson at shutchinson@comagine.org.

 

Network Council

The Network council is composed of a representative from each dialysis facility in the Network service area (Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington).

What is the Network council?

The Social Security Act, Section 1881 (C)-(c)(1)(A)(i)-designated “network administrative organizations” which, in accordance with regulations of the Secretary, included establishment of a “network council of renal dialysis and transplant facilities located in the area.” Each Network may have different processes in place regarding who constitutes the council membership as well as their roles, but all Networks must adhere to the basic regulations. The complete Social Security Act, which includes information on Medicare coverage, the patient registry, Networks and providers, is located online.

Who are the members of this Network’s council?

Each Medicare-certified ESRD treatment facility in the Network area has one representative to the council. In addition, the Network board of directors may approve additional members of the council. When the facility submits their facility roster to the Network, the person listed as the Facility Representative is considered their designated member of the council. The facility must notify the Network if this person has changed. Transplant center representatives are also included in the membership.

What are the responsibilities of the Facility Representative on the Network council?

This role includes assisting the Network in identifying the ongoing needs of the renal community and making recommendations to the Network on programs, activities and approaches to identified needs and issues. The Facility Representative also is the key person responsible for assuring their facility is participating with Network-directed goals and activities as required by the federal Conditions for Coverage (dialysis facilities) and Conditions for Participation (transplant centers) regulations. If a facility is out of compliance with Network activities, the Facility Representative will be the recipient of Network communications regarding this situation. The Facility Representative also casts the facility vote for the Network board of directors elections.

How can council members give input to the Network?

The Network receives ongoing feedback from council members via their phone and email contacts with Network staff. There is a yearly Network council virtual meeting to provide a Network update and solicit input. An annual environmental scan is also sent to all Network council members to understand priorities and barriers of facilities.

What types of assistance can the Network provide to council members and others?

Network staff members are qualified in their respective fields to provide technical and educational assistance to the community on a variety of subjects including clinical, data, social service and administrative areas.

 

Patient Advisory Council

The patient advisory council (PAC) is an active committee of 15 ESRD patients who volunteer their time to inform the Network and its board of directors about the needs of patients.

The Network 16 PAC:

  • Helps the Network identify common patient concerns, problems and educational needs
  • Focuses on issues that affect patient care and quality of life
  • Empowers fellow patients to be involved in their health care

If you are interested in serving on the Network 16 PAC:

PAC members are:

  • From all treatment modalities and transplant
  • Willing to commit two years as a member
  • Able to attend quarterly telephone meetings and an annual face-to-face meeting
  • Outgoing and open communicators
  • Have access to a working telephone and email

 

Network Staff

Stephanie Hutchinson, MBA
Executive Director

Barbara Dommert-Breckler, RN, BSN, CNN
Quality Improvement Director

Lisa Hall, LICSW, MSW
Patient Services Director

Leah Skrien
Information Management Director

 

EVENT

Webinar: Building Confidence for COVID-19 Vaccines

3/29/2022, 11:00 am - 3/29/2022, 12:00 pm (PDT)

Vaccine hesitancy has been a constant challenge for the health care industry, and continues now more than ever during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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