A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Checklist Intervention to Reduce 30 Day Rehospitalization Risk in Hemodialysis Patients

There are an excessive number of 30 day readmissions after hospital discharges of dialysis patients in the U.S. (35.2%). Investigators recent research has found that approximately 2/3 of these readmissions are potentially avoidable. Investigators believe that among the causes for the excessive number of readmissions, the most important may be that patients usually do not receive a clinical assessment upon return to dialysis after a hospitalization. An all too common practice in the U.S. is for the nephrologist to not see the patient but to give verbal orders to the dialysis nurse to resume previous orders. This increases readmission risk in that there are a number of key clinical processes that if completed on return to dialysis might greatly reduce rehospitalization risk. Nephrologists are often not available to see patients in the peri-discharge period, but there is a trend towards an increasing number of U.S. dialysis facilities now having nurse practitioners (NP) working in the units. Investigators believe that NPs using a checklist can conduct a post-discharge clinical encounter that would allow for key care processes to be carried out and to direct telephone communication with the treating nephrologist. Our objective is to reduce the risk of dialysis patient readmissions within 30 days through the use of this intervention. Our research question is whether this intervention would be effective for reducing 30 day readmission risk. Our hypothesis is that the intervention will prove to be more effective then usual care for reducing 30 day readmission risk.