Dialysis Frequently Asked Questions:

What exactly is dialysis?

Dialysis is a therapy that removes waste, excess fluid from your blood when your kidneys can no longer do the job on their own.

Dialysis is a life-saving (sustaining) therapy that is requires 3-4 times per week for the rest of the patient’s life, roughly 156 treatments per year.

In people with chronic kidney disease, the kidneys are less able to perform vital functions that help maintain overall health

Kidneys filter wastes and excess fluids from the blood.

What different types of dialysis treatment/therapy are out there?

For In-Center they are:
- Hemodialysis
- Nocturnal Hemodialysis
- Self-Care Hemodialysis

At home, they are:
- Home Hemodialysis (HHD)
- Peritoneal Dialysis (PD)

What is the distinction between the different types of home dialysis?

Home Hemodialysis (HHD) is simply hemodialysis performed by in the comfort of the patients home. This can be done during the day or at night while sleeping.

What are the benefits of Home Hemodialysis?

- Dialyze on your own schedule
- Even dialyze while you sleep if you prefer
- More flexible diet and less fluid restrictions
- Portable ease of travel
--No more trying to schedule appointments with people you don’t know
- Less access complications
- Reduced risk of infections
- Less blood pressure medicines

Some patients eliminate them all together

- Lower your risk of heart failure
- Shorter recovery time after treatments

What type of person would be good on home hemodialysis?

A highly-motivated dialysis patient who wants to maintain an active lifestyle are the best candidates for home dialysis.

Most patients interested in HHD qualify; however, there are some basic requirements that the patient must meet.

To learn more call 888- DaVita-8 Extension 29 or visit www.davita.com

DaVita is the leader in the growing home dialysis marketplace.

Home dialysis services include home hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis (PD). Home treatment is a flexible and convenient dialysis option that is ideal for patients who want maximum freedom in their dialy schedule and to take control of their dialysis treatments, to maintain an active lifestyle and to improve their quality of life.

DaVita’s team of experienced and professional nurses, technicians, dietitians and social workers provide the training, state-of-the-art equipment, supplies and around-the-clock support for patients who choose to dialyze at home.

Home hemodialysis cleans the blood of wastes and extra fluid similarly to in-center hemodialysis, but with a compact, portable, user-friendly dialysis machine set up at home.

DaVita offers three different home hemodialysis options:

• Traditional home hemodialysis is performed three times per week, typically for about four hours per session

• Short daily home hemodialysis is performed five or six times per week for about two and a half hours each session

• Nocturnal home hemodialysis is performed during sleep three or more nights a week

There are many benefits to home hemodialysis:

Improved Health

• Treating at home provides the flexibility to dialyze more frequently and/or for longer periods of time, and research has shown that this may lead to better clinical results. Such health benefits include: improved sleep, reduced fatigue, less nausea, reduced dependence on medications, less frequent hospitalization and better control of blood pressure (clinical references are available upon request).

Freedom and Convenience

• Home dialysis patients create their own treatment schedule. Following their physician’s guidelines for frequency and duration of dialysis, patients are free to arrange their treatments around work schedules, family needs and other personal scheduling requirements.

• Flexible scheduling means patients can adjust their treatments for optimal health benefits and still have time to enjoy everyday life.

• For patients who depend on family or friends to help with transportation, or who live far from the nearest dialysis facility, home dialysis means more independence and less time on the road.

Partnerships Promote Quality of Care

• Just like in-center treatments, home hemodialysis patients are trained and monitored by physicians and DaVita health care professionals to ensure quality care.

• Nearly anyone can learn how to do home hemodialysis safely and effectively with the correct training and support. All that’s required is a willingness to learn, a commitment to effectively tracking treatments and supplies and a dialysis partner. A partner can be anyone, such as a spouse, family member or even another patient that lives nearby.

Cost-Efficiency

• Home hemodialysis is as cost-efficient as going to a dialysis center for treatment. Medicare and most private insurance plans provide coverage for qualified patients.

What Is Chronic Kidney Disease?

What Is Dialysis?

How Is Your Progress Tracked?

Bringing Your Life Back

What Are Your Dialysis Options?

Getting More Information

Seeing is Believing

Your Nephrologist