title: Is Dorothy correct? The role of patient education in promoting home dialysis.
abstract: The major payer of dialysis services in the United States, Medicare, has established incentives to encourage the use of home dialysis. However, this modality remains underutilized. We think that a major cause of this situation is ineffective education of the prospective dialysis population regarding the choices of kidney replacement modalities. We discuss the value of patient education and the consequences of failing to educate prospective dialysis patients. We then explore approaches to achieve patient education goals and the physician's and education team's roles in the development of an individual patient's life plan.
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. thomas.golper@vanderbilt.edu
authors.forename: Thomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Golper
authors.forename: Rajnish
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mehrotra
authors.forename: Martin S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Schreiber
mesh_terms: D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006437:Hemodialysis, Home / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy*; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010819:Physician's Role