The new partnership delivers care for hemodialysis patients at their local hospital, who previously had to travel nearly 100 miles for care, eliminating the need to be transferred to a more urban hospital
Pictured: Dr. Timothy Pflederer, Medical Director of the dialysis program at Sarah Bush Lincoln and Alexandra Boyer, RN, BSN, MBA, CDN, CNML, Procedural Services Director at Sarah Bush Lincoln. (Credit: PR Newswire/ Fresenius Medical Care Holdings, Inc.)
Fresenius Medical Care, the world’s leading provider of products and services for individuals with renal diseases has launched an on-site dialysis program with Sarah Bush Lincoln, a regional health system in Mattoon, IL. This program now provides dialysis services with the NxStage VersiHD home hemodialysis system to patients in the local community who previously had to travel 100 miles to receive care. By keeping patients at the local hospital, the doctors and nurses have visibility to all other diagnostics and treatments.
“Rural communities across the country struggle with providing access to high quality health care, especially when more complex procedures like dialysis are needed. Utilizing the smaller, simpler NxStage system makes it possible to provide dialysis to hospitalized patients in their own community, closer to their home and loved ones. This is an added benefit of the NxStage VersiHD in rural hospitals as patients who choose home dialysis have better outcomes than those who require dialysis in an outpatient facility,” said Dr. Timothy Pflederer, Medical Director of the dialysis program at Sarah Bush Lincoln and former President of the Renal Physicians Association.
When Sarah Bush Lincoln first implemented the NxStage VersiHD in partnership with Fresenius Medical Care in September of 2022, they quickly discovered their dialysis volumes grew significantly higher than anticipated, resulting in several hundred treatments thus far.
“It is incredible to see the immediate impact Sarah Bush Lincoln and the local community are experiencing since launching an on-site dialysis program,” said Joseph Turk, Executive Vice President and Global Head of Home Therapies at Fresenius Medical Care. “Now the patients can receive treatments, work on their rehabilitation and have family visits all in one location. We always strive to make a positive impact on patients’ lives. It is very rewarding to see how our system helps dialysis providers and hospitals improve efficiency and patient experience.”
The NxStage VersiHD was chosen by Sarah Bush Lincoln for its ease of use and flexibility, which enabled the care team to start offering dialysis services quickly without a significant capital outlay. The simplicity of the device was designed to have web-based setup and troubleshooting guidance which also made it easy for dialysis nurses to learn and use the system with only one and a half days of training. The product has a home-like feel, so when their patients are discharged, they may easily transition into continuing their dialysis treatments at home.
Alexandra Boyer, RN, BSN, MBA, CDN, CNML, Procedural Services Director for Sarah Bush Lincoln, and Dr. Pflederer led the team who selected the NxStage VersiHD hemodialysis system for Sarah Bush Lincoln. “We evaluated three dialysis machines and opted for NxStage. All three devices appeared easier to use than conventional systems, but the NxStage system rose to the top for a few key reasons.
Source: Company Press Release