For Immediate Release February 1, 2021
Contact: Nieltje Gedney, Executive Director Home Dialyzors United Phone: 304-29-3192
Contact: Dori Schatell, MS, Executive Director, Medical Education Institute
Phone: 608-833-8033
Email: schatell@meiresearch.org
Home Dialyzors United and Medical Education Institute Announce Collaborative Response to CMS-3409-NC – Request for Information; Health and Safety Requirements for Transplant Programs, Organ Procurement Organizations, and End-Stage Renal Disease Facilities
Home Dialyzors United (HDU) is excited to announce the collaborative effort of HDU and Medical Education Institute (MEI) in response to the CMS Request for Information, focusing on End Stage Renal Disease Facilities. Together our organizations represent the voice of more than 10,000 home dialyzors and more than 50 years of collective experience in the field.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with MEI on this unprecedented opportunity to provide CMS with critical information needed to ensure the future success of home dialysis” says Ms. Gedney. “I know from personal experience that, with the right dialysis treatment, many patients with ESRD (and their families and care partners) can lead normal lives, enjoying family and friends, and pursuing employment, education, volunteer, and leisure activities.”
HDU is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and the only dialysis patient group dedicated solely to home dialysis. Our mission is to inspire, inform, and advocate for an extraordinary quality of life for the home dialysis community. As a patient organization HDU represents the home dialysis community by supporting education, home dialysis, vascular access, innovation and technology improvements, to improve long term outcomes for dialysis patients.
Dori Schatell, MEI Executive Director, adds, “We are delighted that CMS is looking to make the Conditions for Coverage more relevant for people who want to dialyze at home and clinics that support them. Home dialysis is more than in-center treatments moved to a home setting. It requires measures and a mindset appropriate for training and empowering dialyzors and assessing their clinical progress—while keeping their values and quality of life paramount."
Founded in 1992, MEI is a 501c(3) Public Charity, whose mission is to help people with chronic disease learn to manage and improve their health—with a focus on all stages of and treatments for chronic kidney disease. In 2004, MEI launched Home Dialysis Central to raise awareness and use of PD and home HD, and MEI offers an evidence-based dialysis decision aid: My Life, My Dialysis Choice, along with many other tools and educational materials.
For more information:
schatell@meiresearch.org
