Dear Renal Community Partner:

In an effort to provide more timely communications with our renal community, ESRD Network 4 would like to share the following electronic newsletter with you. If you cannot view HTML email, this electronic newsletter is available online, along with our past editions Network eNews.

	Network eNews
November 11, 2011	Volume 2, Number 3
In This Issue · 2012 Nephrology Conference · Clinical Performance Goals · Preventing Catheter-Associated Blood Stream Infections in Hemodialysis Center Webinar · Cannulation Camp in Philadelphia - December 1, 2011 · CDC Influenza Vaccination Webinar · Immunization Resources Available on New Webpage · Vascular Access Goals Reached · Vascular Access Improvement Projects · Vascular Access Infections Quality Improvement Project · Recent Safety Alerts · Fistula First Comprehensive Fistula Construction and Management Program for Surgeons · Patient Newsletter Fall 2011 · 5-Diamond Patient Safety Program · Never Send Sensitive Information via Email · CROWNWeb Preparations · Annual Network Goals Mailing · Provider Directory Validation Sheets · 2011 Customer Evaluation For More Information Keep up to date on with Network news by visiting our pages: · Network 4 "Events and Updates" · Network 4 "Newsletters" · The Renal Network Newsletters -- Including "Renal Outreach" for Patients and "E-VAC News" for Staff Visit Us www.esrdnetwork4.org www.therenalnetwork.org Contact Us Email: info@nw4.esrd.net Mail: The Renal Network, Inc.: ESRD Network 4 40 24th Street, Suite 410 Pittsburgh, PA 15222 Main telephone number: (412) 325-2250 Fax number: (412) 325-1811	2012 Nephrology Conference Join us for our next annual nephrology conference! May 22 – 24, 2012 Hilton Columbus at Easton 3900 Chagrin Drive – Columbus, Ohio Working agenda includes: Tuesday, May 22 from 7-9 PM · CROWNWeb Session Wednesday, May 23 (Plenary Session) · The Patient Perspective · Evidence Based Medicine · The Impact of Bundling · Health Acquired Infections · Home Therapies & Transplantation Thursday, May 24 (Break Out Sessions) · The challenges of caring for the dialysis patient from a multi-disciplinary perspective · Effective Communications · Team Work · Identifying Disparities in Care · Overcoming Cultural Barriers · Impact of Quality Incentive Payment Watch the website for details as they develop: http://www.TheRenalNetwork.org Quality Improvement v Clinical Performance Goals Now available for download! 2011-2012 Clinical Performance Goals Document (format: PDF, size: 1.1 Mb) This document may be used to develop appropriate Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement (QAPI) program within your unit. Let us know what you think about our Clinical Performance Goals Document – evaluate online v TRN Webinar: “Preventing Catheter-Associated Blood Stream Infections (BSI) in Hemodialysis Center” Presented by Mary Lincoln, BSN, MHA (Mercy Hospital, Clinton, Iowa). Ms. Lincoln has experience in preventing BSI including the use of the CDC's National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). CE's have been applied for through NANT. Online registration is available. There are two dates to choose from! Pick the time that works best for you: Thursday, November 17, 2011 -- 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM ET <or> Friday, November 18, 2011 -- 11:00 AM to 12:00 Noon ET v Join Us at Cannulation Camp in Philadelphia! Thursday, December 1, 2011 Crozer-Chester Hospital Target Audience: Caregivers for patients with renal failure: Nurses, Patient Care Technicians and all indirect patient caregivers. Goals: Assist clinics with achieving and sustaining the goal of 66% AVF rate; Provide "hands-on" cannulation training; Provide methods to evaluate and monitor the non-mature AV fistula; and Discuss methods to detect AVF Access failure. CEs: Contact Hours for Continuing Education: This activity has been submitted to the American Nephrology Nurses' Association (ANNA) for approval to award contact hours. The ANNA is accredited as an approver of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation. Fee: There is a pre-registration fee of $25.00 which is due one week prior to event (on 11/24/2011). Late or "at door" registration fee will be $35.00. (Fee includes continental breakfast, lunch, and CEs.) Please call for late registration to guarantee meals. (Meals not guaranteed with "at door" registrations.) Registration questions, please call Carol Lesnick at (724) 523-6386. Location questions, please call Sue Kirschbaum at (412) 325-2250. Download the Cannulation Camp Flyer and Registration Form for more agenda and registration instructions v CDC Webinar On Tuesday, November 15, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. EST (1:00 p.m. CST, 12:00 MST, 11:00 a.m. PST) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will host a webinar entitled, “Update on Influenza Vaccination for Health Care Personnel: Recent Coverage, Recommendations, Reporting and Resources”. During the webinar, CDC subject matter experts will review the recent coverage data, current recommendations, improvements for reporting, and provide resources for clinician education and influenza vaccine promotion. To register for this free webinar click here and then click the “Join this Webinar” hyperlink. With the flu season getting underway, the Kidney Community Emergency Response (KCER) Coalition encourages your participation in this informative hour-long webinar. v Immunization Resources Available! Protect yourself and your patients by getting vaccinated against Influenza, Pneumonia and Hepatitis B. Educate patients on the importance of these immunizations and track that they are received. We now have a dedicated page on the Internet for Immunization Resources. Please visit: http://www.esrdnetwork4.org/immunize v Vascular Access Goals Reached – Don’t Stop Now! Each year, CMS requires the Network to obtain a rate of Fistulas in the prevalent dialysis patient population. We are very pleased to announce that as of September’s data, all three Networks met our contract targets: Network 4: 59.3% AVF Rate Network 9: 56.7% AVF Rate Network 10: 59.1% AVF Rate This would not be possible without the focus and effort that you do in education, evaluation and maintenance of vascular access. Thank you making our region successful and keep up the great work. We have a way to go before we meet the overall program goal of 66% Nationwide AVF Rate. v 2011-2012 Vascular Access Improvement Projects Speaking of Vascular Access, we are making strides in our current projects centered around the 3 Ps of Vascular Access Success: Prevent Catheters, Place and Use Fistulas, and Preserve Fistulas. This year, we retooled our 3 Ps Handbook into specific toolkits: Prevent Catheter Toolkit Place and Use Fistula Toolkit Preserve Fistula Toolkit v Vascular Access Infection Project Each unit is reminded that to submit their Vascular Access Infection information. We are collecting baseline data (January-June 2011), and for each quarter until March 2012. Please remember to submit your scan as needed to help us move forward with this important project. v Recent Safety Alerts For current announcements, please visit our “Events and Updates” page. Recall -- H&P Industries Providone Iodine Swabsticks, Prep Solutions, Scrub Solutions and Prep Gel -- August 30, 2011 Audience: Pharmacy, Consumer, Risk Manager Due to inadequate microbial testing, this recall has been initiated at the request of the FDA. Refer to the H&P Industries Providone Iodine Recall Announcement (format: PDF, size: 94 kb) for product types, lot numbers, background, and recommendations. v Fistula First Comprehensive Fistula Construction and Management Program for Surgeons Friday, December 2, 2011 Atlanta, Georgia "How to Make Fistulas That Work" This one-day comprehensive training is appropriate for surgeons who perform vascular access surgeries for hemodialysis patients. CME credits offered. Online registration is available.
	Patient Services v Patient Newsletter Fall 2011 Coming soon in hardcopy to your Network 4 dialysis or transplant unit, the latest edition of the Patient Newsletter is packed with information and we encourage you to share this resource with patients, family members and staff. Our Fall 2011 Patient Newsletter includes a series called “This WORKS for me!” Eight individuals shared their story of working while receiving renal replacement therapy. v 5-Diamond Patient Safety Program The Renal Network held an orientation webinar on November 2nd for the 5-Diamond Patient Safety Program. Over 80 people joined our presentation. If you missed our session, the following resources are available for you to review. We hope you will consider joining the program. · Watch the recording of the webinar · Submit feedback on the webinar · Review the slides of the webinar · Visit our 5-Diamond Homepage to sign up and for more information Data Services v Never Send Sensitive Information via Email As a reminder, never send any Personal Identifying or Protected Health Information (PII/PHI) via email, either in the body of the note or as an attachment. Should you need to communicate with the Network office and PII/PHI is involved, the approved methods are Mail, Phone or Fax. Our office’s contact information is provided in the blue margin. v CROWNWeb Preparations Look for a memorandum (coming soon) from the Network office explaining the specifics of CROWNWeb. The National Release of CROWNWeb is still slated for February 2012. Although registration for the national release is not available at this time, there are some things that you can do NOW to prepare: · CMS will require each user of CROWNWeb to complete a Security Awareness Training. At the end of course, you will receive a certificate. This certificate is good for one year, and you will need it when you sign up for CROWNWeb. · Refresh and renew your knowledge of CROWNWeb. Visit ProjectCROWNWeb.com for all your training needs. · While on their site, check out their Simulations. · Be sure to sign up for the Learning Management System (LMS) for the latest online training and tutorials. · Also, don't forget to submit your unit's full list of nephrologists (or names of anyone who will be signing CMS forms) to the Network office with your Provider Directory Updates. Having the Network enter this information in our current environment will save you from having to manually enter it into CROWNWeb.
	Administration v Annual Network Goals Mailing The Renal Network will be sending a packet of information to your Unit Administrator. This packet will contain our Annual Network Goals Statement, an Acknowledgment of Receipt Form, Patient Newsletter, Vocational Rehabilitation Feedback Flyer, Provider Directory Validation Sheets, and a Customer Evaluation. Several components will need to be reviewed, signed and returned to the Network office. Please respond promptly. v Provider Directory Validation Sheets We will be providing you with all facility and personnel information currently recorded in our database. It will be very critical for you to review this information and let us know if there are any corrections. You may supply us with lists of additional names you would like added. Helpful Hint: Everything in our database will be loaded into CROWNWeb when it goes nation-wide. Supply us with the names of all your nephrologists and anyone who may sign your CMS-2728 or CMS-2746 forms so you won't have to worry about entering those names in CROWNWeb manually. v Customer Evaluation Please complete our 2011 Customer Evaluation. Your insight tells us if we are on the right track, how we can do better, and guides us for the future.

Should you have any questions regarding any of the informational updates provided above, please contact the Network 4 office at (412) 325-2250.

We apologize for any duplication of this material which you may have received. We were pulling email addresses from a number of sources. If you do not wish to receive any further email communications from the Network office, please email your request to me (my email address is below).

Best wishes,

Shane Perry

Director of Information Systems

ESRD Network 4

40 24th Street, Suite 410

Pittsburgh, PA 15222

direct line: (412) 325-2255

fax: (412) 325-1811

sperry@nw4.esrd.net

http://www.esrdnetwork4.org