Heartland Kidney Network

News Page

Feb 2, 2008 - Baxter Heparin Recall

From the FDA Baxter Healthcare has released this urgent voluntary recall notice for heparin that may cause the following patient reactions:

Baxter International Inc. announced today (2/28/08) that the company is proceeding with the voluntary recall of all remaining lots and doses of its heparin sodium injection multi-dose, single-dose vials and HEP-LOCK heparin flush products.

The company initially recalled nine lots of heparin sodium injection multi-dose vials on January 17, 2008 as a precautionary measure due to a higher than usual number of reports of adverse patient reactions involving the product and suspended production earlier this month.

abdominal pain, abdominal pain (upper), decreased blood pressure, burning sensation, chest pain, diarrhea, dizziness, drug ineffectiveness, dyspepsia, dyspnea, erythema, flushing, headache, hyperhidrosis, hypoesthesia, hypotension, lacrimation increased, loss of consciousness, mailaise, etc.

Oct 17, 2007 - Online Registration is here for the 2008 Heartland Kidney Conference and Annual Business Meeting

The 2008 Heartland Kidney Conference and Annual Business meeting will be held at the Westin Crown Center Hotel in Kansas City from Wednesday January 9th to Friday January 11th, 2008.

Sep 24, 2007 - CROWN Web Rollout Date Announced

CROWN Web is coming to your unit in 17 months (February 2, 2009). On this date all units will enter patient data electronically, including the monthly Patient Activity Reports and Facility Personnel Updates as well as Forms. Volunteer testers from the provider community have been recruited to preview, test and comment on the development of CROWN Web.

April 3, 2007 - Quarterly Rosters and Facility Personnel Updates

Quarterly patient rosters will be mailed out April 16th, and are due back with your changes by May 4th. The Facility Personnel Updates will be mailed on April 20th, and are due back with any changes by May 11th.

Jan 25, 2007 - 2744 Annual Surveys mailed out

The Annual Facility Surveys were mailed out to all units today, and are due back in our office no later than February 16th. Please be sure to send the Fax Back to us upon receipt of the survey.

Dec 15, 2006 - NCC-2007 Annual Meeting Late Registration Cut-off

Today is the cut-off date for late registration for our NCC-2007 Annual Meeting January 11-12, 2007 at the Westin Crown Center Hotel.

Dec 15, 2006 - Sample Annual Survey Mailed

On December 15th a sample of the 2744 Annual Survey was mailed to all facilities. This sample will help you to prepare for the real survey that will be mailed to you in January.

Oct 18, 2006 - PCT Nominations Due

Nominations for the PCT (Patient Care Technician) awards to be given at the January NCC 2007 Annual meeting are due to the Network office by November 1st, 2006.

Oct 2, 2006 - Quarterly Rosters are due soon

Just a reminder that Quarterly Rosters are due Monday October 30th, 2006 from all dialysis units.

Oct 2, 2006 - Annual Meeting Registration is now open

Registration is now open for the Network's NCC-2007 Annual Meeting in Kansas City January 11-12, 2007 at the Westin Crown Center Hotel.

Sep 7 , 2006 - The 2006 DFR Comments Deadline is coming soon

Please watch for the Comment Deadline to the 2006 DFR report for your facility. You will receive information on the deadline and what website to report your comments on.

Jul 3 , 2006 - Quarterly Rosters are due soon

Just a reminder that Quarterly Rosters are due Friday July 28th, 2006 from all dialysis units.

May 5, 2006 - Flu Vaccine Reminder

Don't forget to order your flu vaccine for the Fall season.

Apr 4, 2006 - Quarterly Rosters are due soon

Just a reminder that Quarterly Rosters are due Friday April 28th, 2006 from all dialysis units.

Mar 29, 2006 - Open Door Teleconference

Here is a transcript of the Open Door Teleconference in March 16, 2006.

Mar 20, 2006 - Have you applied for your National Provider ID?

By May 2007 all Medicare healthcare providers, both individuals and organizations such as dialysis clinics must apply for an NPI (National Provider ID). The NPI will be a single cross-reference for other numbers such as the UPIN, Medicare, Medicaid, and other healthplan provider IDs.

Applications and additional information are available the website for The Office of the Enumerator.

Please address all questions to their call center at 1-800-465-3203.

Feb 24, 2006 - Monitoring Your Dialysis Water Treatment System

Water treatment systems used in dialysis are a critical factor in the overall care received by dialysis patients; they also provide one of the greatest hazards to the patients if they are not functioning properly.

To respond to this need, the Northwest Renal Network (Network 16) has developed this comprehensive review of water treatment monitoring.

Feb 24, 2006 - Promoting ESRD Patient Safety: For Caregivers

Did you know? In December 1999, the U.S. Federal Government's Institute of Medicine issued a report entitled, "To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System". This report cited between 44,000 and 98,000 deaths every year due to medical errors. Here are some recommendations for making dialysis centers safer places for patients.

Feb 24, 2006 - CPM Goal Reminder

Network Clinical Performance Measure (CPM) goal reminders.

Feb 24, 2006 - Does your facility meet the DOQI guidelines for AV Fistulae?

Does your dialysis facility meet or exceed the DOQI guidelines for AV Fistulae? If not, here's what other facilities did to improve...MORE

Feb 24, 2006 - Healthy People 2010

The Healthy People 2010 (HP2010) is a comprehensive set of disease prevention and health promotion objectives for the nation to achieve over the first decade of the new century. Created by scientists both inside and outside of government, it identifies a wide range of public health priorities and specific, measurable objectives...read more

Feb 14, 2006 - Conflict Resolution Seminar - 7.2 CES

The Network Coordinating Council presents "Conflict Resolution Training - Decreasing Patient/Provider Conflict" March 21,23,30 and April 20, 2006 in the following cities: Cedar Rapids, IA, Wichita, KS, St. Louis, MO and Omaha, NE. This continuing Nursing Education Activity was approved for 7.2 CES. Click here for registration information. The deadline for registration is March 15, 2006.

Jan 31, 2006 - CDC Recommendations for Single Use IV Medication Vials

This document presents the CDC recommendations for Single Use IV Medication Vials in ESRD Facilities, and was discussed by William Nugent, Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services, at our 2006 Annual Meeting.

Jan 31, 2006 - Survey Readiness: Overcoming the Top 10 Difficulties

Survey Readiness: Overcoming the Top 10 Difficulties as presented at our 2006 Annual Meeting by William Nugent, Program Manager, ESRD Survey & Certification, Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services.

Dec 15, 2005 - Urgent Product Recall for Baxter's Meridian Hemodialysis Machine

FDA Class I Classification Given to Baxter's September 2005 Urgent Product Recall for Meridian Hemodialysis Instrument.

Nov 21, 2005 - Poster Gallery 2006 Submissions

Click here for details on how you can submit posters for the 2006 Annual Meeting Poster Gallery. Other facilities can learn from your example. Prizes will be awarded to three lucky participants.

Oct 4, 2005 - Medication Project Report

CMS funded Network 8, Inc. to conduct a special outpatient medications project from July 2004 – June 2005 in order to evaluate a number of safety and coverage issues related to drugs that are available to the CKD Stage 5 population. Emphasis was placed on medications to be avoided as well as those that should always be available. The project report has been submitted to CMS for consideration and can be found on the Network 8 website. Click here to read the report.

May 17, 2005 - 2005 Network 12 CPM Goals

Network 12's 2005 CPM Goals are now approved by CMS and our Medical Review Board, along with this CQI Reminder.

May 17, 2005 - Disaster Planning & Emergency Preparedness

A comprehensive list of links to help you plan for emergencies.

May 17, 2005 - Glossary of Terms and Acronyms

If you are new to End Stage Renal Dialysis here is a helpful glossary of acronyms.

May 12, 2005 - LifeScan Blood Glucose Meter users may misinterpret results

View details on FDA MedWatch.

May 5, 2005 - New Conditions of Coverage

The new conditions of coverage have been released see the following for details:

April 15, 2005 - Fistula First I-70 Series

Using I-70 as the dividing line, the ESRD Network #12 Quality Improvement Staff has drafted your Missouri facility to play for either the Cardinals or the Royals. View the Series details. View the team Roster. Final results will be posted in late May.

April 5, 2005 - Announcing the Fistula First Website!

There is now a new national Fistula First website to act as a resource to dialysis facilities, nephrologists, and vascular access surgeons.

April 5, 2005 - Semi-Annual Open Door Teleconference

Sorry you missed it, but here is a transcript of the call.

Feb 4, 2005 - PowerPoints from 2005 Annual Meeting available online

Powerpoints from the speakers at the 2005 Annual Meeting & Clinical Care Conference are now available.

Feb 1, 2005 - The New Conditions of Coverage released for Comments

The New Conditions of Coverage and a Summary have been released by CMS for comments. CMS encourages you to make any comments to them on the new COC during a period of 90 days from posting to the Federal Register.
Please send those comments directly to CMS using the instructions found in the first 3 pages. You may also fax copies of your comments to Network 12 at
(816)-880-9088.
Among the changes are:

Electronic submisssion of forms
Outcome-based performance quality measures
Patient safety
Reuse of hemodialyzers & bloodlines
Patient plan of care
Home care

Oct 19, 2004 - CDC Antiviral Guidance

CDC has released the following document with guidance on the use of anti-virals in light of the flu vaccine shortage.

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