DialysisEthics2_Forum
Other => Historical Posts => Topic started by: admin on September 24, 2009, 06:38:52 PM
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FYI
Joined: 15 Feb 2003
Posts: 72
Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2003 6:40 am Post subject: GAO REPORT DUE OUT
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Arlene,<
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>The GAO report on ESRD should be going out in the next few days to the public. Once it is released, it will be available on GAO's website.<
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>Thanks, <
>Michelle Anderson <
>
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Bill Peckham
Joined: 06 Jan 2003
Posts: 65
Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2003 6:43 am Post subject: GAO report
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CNN is planning to air a story about US dialysis quality tomorrow - Wednesday 11/5. I'll pass on the time when I hear. Edited by: Bill Peckham at: 11/4/03 9:46 am<
>
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Bill Peckham
Joined: 06 Jan 2003
Posts: 65
Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2003 1:16 pm Post subject: Re: GAO report
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Here is a transcript of the story that went out to CNN's affiliate stations. It's running time is 1 minute 26 seconds.<
><
>--LEAD IN-- <
>AN ESTIMATED 300-THOUSAND AMERICANS GET DIALYSIS IN FOUR THOUSAND FACILITIES <
>ACROSS THE COUNTRY. <
>NOW A NEW REPORT FINDS MANY OF THEM MAY NOT BE GETTING THE BEST CARE. <
>CHRISTY FEIG HAS THE DETAILS. <
> <
>--REPORTER PKG-AS FOLLOWS-- <
>AMY STAPLES HAS HAD DIALYSIS AT SEVERAL DIFFERENT CENTERS... BUT SAY'S THERE'S <
>A LOT IN COMMON: NOT ENOUGH WORKERS AND LACK OF TRAINING. <
> something will fall on the floor, they'll have clean gloves on and they reach <
>down and pick it up, put it on the table, open it up and use it. <
>BILL PECKHAM NEEDED FIVE HOURS OF DIALYSIS THREE TIMES A WEEK. <
> there's been a couple of centers i've visited that the maximum amount of time <
>any one patient can spend on the machine is four hours. <
>NOW A NEW GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE REPORT FOUND THEIR STORIES AREN'T UNIQUE. <
>--STAND UP-- <
> THE GOVERNMENT REPORT LOOKED AT DATA FROM MORE THAN ONE-THIRD OF DIALYSIS <
>CENTERS IN THE U.S. AND FOUND 16-PERCENT OF PATIENTS DID NOT GET ENOUGH <
>DIALYSIS TO REMOVE ADEQUATE TOXINS IN THEIR BLOOD. <
>SENATOR CHARLES GRASSLEY WHO REQUESTED THE REPORT BLAMES THE GOVERNMENT <
>MEDICARE AGENCY THAT OVERSEES THE FACILITIES. <
>HHS GUIDELINES SAY THE CENTERS SHOULD BE INSPECTED EVERY THREE YEARS. <
>we have facilities that have gone 9 years without being inspected, 100's of <
>facilities <
>THE AGENCY FOOTING THE BILL WANTS MORE MONEY AND POWER TO DISCIPLINE PROBLEM <
>CLINICS <
>we don't have any money, we'd love to do more, when we came in here the <
>inspection schedule was up to be as high as 9 or 10 years on a rolling average <
>i think we've dropped to to 5 1/2 <
>IT'S A FIGHT THAT WILL PLAY OUT ON CAPITOL HILL. <
>IN WASHINGTON I'M CHRISTY FEIG <
>-----END-----CNN.SCRIPT <
><
> Edited by: Bill Peckham at: 11/5/03 4:17 pm<
>
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leadsag
Joined: 31 Oct 2002
Posts: 263
Posted: Thu Nov 06, 2003 10:12 am Post subject: GAO Report #
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Bill - Do you know the GAO Report number? Have been trying to find a copy of the report without any success as of yet.
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Bill Peckham
Joined: 06 Jan 2003
Posts: 65
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2003 5:42 am Post subject: Links
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Here are a couple of links. Here is the press release from Grassley's office. It's a letter to CMS about the report's findings:<
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>finance.senate.gov/press/...110603.pdf<
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>Here is the 62 page report from Grassley's site:<
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>finance.senate.gov/press/...03rprt.pdf<
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>I thought the Grassley letter was good.<
><
>Bill<
> Edited by: Bill Peckham at: 11/7/03 9:25 am<
>
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plugger
Joined: 11 Jan 2003
Posts: 235
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2003 6:57 am Post subject: letter
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Yes, it was a good letter. I guess it just takes him a little while to get mad (three years!)
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leadsag
Joined: 31 Oct 2002
Posts: 263
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2003 12:39 pm Post subject: get mad
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Hopefully his anger will past past election time next November <
>
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Want to know
Joined: 07 Nov 2003
Posts: 1
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2003 6:59 pm Post subject: Why?
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Why wasn't ole' Grassleyfollowing up on this subject 3 years ago when he had the first Senate Hearings? <
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>Why did it take 3 years for him to write this letter. <
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>Will he continue to follow up on this or will he figure that we are happy with just this and hope we forget the whole thing?<
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>Why didn't the CNN report have the REAL Problems as stated in this letter and the GOA report, not just come complaints about gauze on the floor and someone not getting their hours in a visiting clinic? <
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>Who of this bunch is going to say, "The Buck stops here and I have the power to do something about it?"<
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>Will it take an act of Congress to get some butt kicked around here?
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leadsag
Joined: 31 Oct 2002
Posts: 263
Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2003 2:17 am Post subject: why
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When will the long talked about article come out that we keep hearing about but never see? At least CNN did some kind of story. Why not give CNN the data we have given the people for the article, maybe CNN will air it.<
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>Lets get the data/articles out there. Put some pressure on the authors to get the things published or aired whichever it may be. CNN appears to be interested in covering the topic now. <
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>It is not Sen. Grassley's responsibility to make the changes. Not much has been done in three years, he admits that, but it is not his responsibility to make those changes. Sen. Grassley is a politician. They make statements/promises that they don't or are not able to follow through on. That is just the way it is. President Bush said he would not do nation building and what has he done? Lets work with Sen. Grassely and other Senators to make positive change. <
><
>Why doesn't DEO try to work with CMS to make some positive changes? Contacts were made during meetings held in Washington, why not work with those contacts for positive change.
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leadsag
Joined: 31 Oct 2002
Posts: 263
Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2003 2:37 am Post subject: AAKP.org
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<
>AAKP Calls For Dialysis Quality Commission in Response to GAO Report<
>AAKP CALLS FOR DIALYSIS QUALITY COMMISSION IN RESPONSE TO GAO REPORT<
><
>TAMPA , Fla. ? Today, the American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP),
the nation?s only kidney patient organization led by kidney patients for kidney patients, again called for a National Commission on Improved Kidney Patient Outcomes. This action is in response to a report by the General Accounting Office (GAO) on dialysis quality management by the Medicare program, which was requested by Senate Finance Chairman, Charles Grassley. <
><
>On October 3, AAKP President Brenda Dyson wrote the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson asking that a commission be established in wake of quality concerns (letter attached). AAKP has not yet received a response from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. <
><
>?Dialysis is a miracle for people whose kidneys have failed,? Dyson said today. ?Quality must be job number one in providing dialysis -- and as payor for 75 percent of the nation?s dialysis care, Medicare has a special responsibility. We call upon Secretary Thompson to create a national commission to address the quality concerns.? <
><
>The American Association of Kidney Patients is the voluntary, patient organization, which for over 30 years, has been dedicated to helping patients and their families deal with the physical, emotional and social impact of kidney disease. The programs offered by AAKP inform and inspire patients and their families to better understand their condition, adjust more readily to their circumstances and assume more normal, productive lives in their communities.<
><
> <
>
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Curious
Joined: 02 Feb 2003
Posts: 39
Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2003 9:50 am Post subject: QUESTIONS
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1. WHO FUNDS AAKP? the dialysis industry?<
>2. WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN IN THE PAST 5 YEARS,AND ESPECIALLY FOR THE PATIENTS WHO HAVE BEEN DUMPED FROM FACILITIES?<
>3.
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Curious
Joined: 02 Feb 2003
Posts: 39
Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2003 9:57 am Post subject: QUESTIONS
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1. WHO FUNDS THE AAKP? THE INDUSTRY?<
>2. WHERE HAVE BEEN IN THE LAST 5 YEARS? ESPECIALLY FOR THE PATIENTS WHO HAVE BEEN DUMPED?<
>3. I PERSONALLY FEEL YOU ARE DANGEROUS TO THE PATIENTS. YOU ARE PAWNS OF THE INDUSTRY.<
>4. YOU ONLY COME OUT WHEN THE INDUSTRY NEEDS SOMETHING. ONLY SAFE ISSUES AND WORK AGAINST THE PATIENTS IN THE UNITS THAT ARE BEING ABUSED.<
>5. THE INDUSTRY KNOWS WHO TO CALL WHEN THEY WANT SAFE PATIENTS TO SPEAK OUT. <
>6. WHEN HAVE YOU TAKEN A HARD STAND WHEN THIS STARTED. YOU ARE TAG ALONGS WITH NO THOUGHTS OF YOUR OWN. YOU ARE WILLING USED. YOU COME OUT WHEN IT IS SAFE.
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BRLA
Joined: 08 Nov 2003
Posts: 22
Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2003 10:16 am Post subject: wondering
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Is there a relationship between aakp and nkf? If so what is it?
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Really
Joined: 08 Nov 2003
Posts: 2
Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2003 2:06 pm Post subject: Grassley and aakp
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That was a great, hard hitting letter by Grassley. Only thing is- WHY, WHY, WHY IS IT 3 YEARS LATE??????????????????????????? That's 3 more years worth of dumped patients, abuses and mortalities. Did he go to sleep and wake up like Rumplestiltzkin?<
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>And as far as the aakp. What kind of joke are they? You call there for help and all you get is a person on the phone with a canned speech. What patients are part of that organization? -I don't know any of them. <
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>It seems to me if we could follow the money trail, we'd find a lot of these polititians and kidney organizations are riding the same horse..
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Charlie Chung
Joined: 08 Nov 2003
Posts: 1
Posted: Sat Nov 08, 2003 2:39 pm Post subject: CNN Report
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Is the transcript above the full report that aired/is to air, or is there more to it than that? That sure doesn't say much or
ing out all the most important issues.
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jfwag
Joined: 11 Jan 2003
Posts: 140
Posted: Mon Nov 10, 2003 9:06 am Post subject: Re: GAO REPORT DUE OUT
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From the Bloomberg Report<
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>Saturday, November 8, 2003<
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>Dialysis centers provide poor care, Congressional report says<
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>By Kristen Hallam / Bloomberg News<
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> <
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>Hundreds of U.S. dialysis facilities are providing their patients with inadequate treatment, including medication errors and a lack of physician supervision of care, according to a report by Congress's investigative arm. <
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>The General Accounting Office report doesn't mention the owners of the clinics by name. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, who requested the report, asked the Department of Health and Human Services to investigate patient complaints received by his staff and reply to him by Nov. 24. <
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>"The oversight and enforcement of this industry is stuck in the Stone Age," Grassley wrote yesterday in a letter to the department. "The dialysis industry must be
ought up to date to protect the welfare of the dialysis population." <
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>Companies including Renal Care Group Inc., DaVita Inc. and Fresenius AG run dialysis centers. Kidney Care Partners, a coalition that represents those companies, said in a press release that industry efforts to improve quality may suffer unless Medicare reimbursements are increased enough. <
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>"Medicare beneficiaries comprise about 75 percent of the patient population, and these vulnerable individuals remain at risk until Congress acts to modernize the prospective payment system," the coalition's chairman, Renal Care Group Chief Medical Officer Raymond Hakim, said in the release. <
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>The coalition also includes Amgen Inc., Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Baxter International Inc., all makers of drugs and equipment used in dialysis treatment. <
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>Shares of DaVita fell 1 cent to $38.75 at 4 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Renal Care Group shares rose 92 cents to $38.73. <
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>The U.S. Medicare health insurance program spends about $16 billion on care for more than 300,000 dialysis patients, Grassley said. In the next seven years, that cost will almost double to $28 billion. <
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>Grassley's committee oversees Medicare, the U.S. program covering 41 million elderly and disabled Americans. <