The use of virtual physician mentoring to enhance home dialysis knowledge and uptake

Authors

Justin Ashley, Division of Nephrology, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Graham Abra, Satellite Healthcare, San Jose, California, USA, Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, USA
Brigitte Schiller, Satellite Healthcare, San Jose, California, USA, Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, California, USA
Paul N. Bennett, Satellite Healthcare, San Jose, California, USA, Department of Clinical & Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Ali Poyan Mehr, Department of Nephrology, Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center, San Francisco, California, USA
Joanne M. Bargman, Division of Nephrology, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Christopher T. Chan, Division of Nephrology, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-2021

Abstract

Home dialysis therapies are flexible kidney replacement strategies with documented clinical benefits. While the incidence of end-stage kidney disease continues to increase globally, the use of home dialysis remains low in most developed countries. Multiple barriers to providing home dialysis have been noted in the published literature. Among known challenges, gaps in clinician knowledge are potentially addressable with a focused education strategy. Recent national surveys in the United States and Australia have highlighted the need for enhanced home dialysis knowledge especially among nephrologists who have recently completed training. Traditional in-person continuing professional educational programmes have had modest success in promoting home dialysis and are limited by scale and the present global COVID-19 pandemic. We hypothesize that the use of a ‘Hub and Spoke’ model of virtual home dialysis mentorship for nephrologists based on project ECHO would support home dialysis growth. We review the home dialysis literature, known educational gaps and plausible educational interventions to address current limitations in physician education.

Recommended Citation

Ashley, J., Abra, G., Schiller, B., Bennett, P. N., Mehr, A. P., Bargman, J. M., & Chan, C. T. The use of virtual physician mentoring to enhance home dialysis knowledge and uptake. Nephrology. 2021; Epub ahead of print. Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/nep.13867.