 BC Nephrology Days: Three weeks and counting!
Date & Venue: October 2 & 3rd 2008, Vancouver Renaissance Hotel
This year’s Nephrology Days promises to educate, inform and stimulate with two jam-packed days of presentations and interactive sessions. A wide range of topics is on offer, from advanced care planning to disaster preparedness to medication reconciliation. There will also be a presentation by filmmaker David Paperny, producer of a recent TV documentary about the global black market trade in human organs.
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 New operations leader for Providence Health Care
Please join us in welcoming Cecilia Chow to the position of operations leader for Providence Health Care (PHC). As of September 2nd, Cecilia is responsible for the renal program’s six community dialysis units and the home hemodialysis program. Fellow operations leaders Kate Sullivan and Michele Trask manage other aspects of PHC’s renal program, including in-centre dialysis care, vascular access, and the kidney function and transplant programs.
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 Financial insight
Boost in data entry funding aims to improve quality monitoring
Health authority renal programs have recently been allocated extra funds for 2008/09 for the critical function of data entry into PROMIS – and in recognition of the time and effort involved.
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PROMIS update
PROMIS capability growing by leaps and bounds: Training available
When Steven Townsend started using PROMIS nine years ago as a renal program unit coordinator, he found it to be a good, solid database for patient demographics. Today, it’s an increasingly valuable tool for many aspects of healthcare practice. And Steven, a PROMIS trainer for the past four months, is helping renal care providers maximize the system’s benefits.
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Just developed: Health authority-specific indicator reports
The BC Renal Agency has recently produced and distributed health authority-specific versions of its "balanced scorecard" that track each renal program and facility through various indicators in the following categories: clients, patients and community; services coordination and delivery; and learning, growth and innovation.
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CKD guideline revision in the works
A revision of the guideline Chronic Kidney Disease - Identification, Evaluation and Management of Patients will be posted on the Renal Agency and BC Ministry of Health Services websites later this month, with copies distributed to physicians across the province as well.
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Trust fund dollars support program improvements
Starting in the next issue of Renal News, we’ll highlight projects and purchases made possible through trust fund dollars from provincial contracts negotiated by the Renal Agency. Referred to as "value added funds" and provided through Baxter, Ortho Biotech and Amgen, these dollars support a range of staff and patient education projects, research initiatives, and data management/analysis tasks, as well as enabling the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment.
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 Pharmacy and formulary update
ACE inhibitor review: A review of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors – or ACE inhibitors – used in renal care is now complete and will be presented to the pharmacy and formulary review committee soon. ACE inhibitors are a group of pharmaceuticals used primarily in treatment of hypertension and congestive heart failure.
It was necessary to review these drugs for use in renal care to ensure the current evidence is represented and to harmonize regional and PharmaCare formularies. The review – the first of its kind – will also serve as a template for reviews of other drug classes.
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 Information-sharing benefits residential care PD programs
Three facilities in BC – Delta View Campus of Care in Delta, Hawthorne Care Centre in Port Coquitlam, and Three Links Care Centre in Vancouver – are running successful peritoneal dialysis (PD) programs for their residents. These programs were highlighted in a May 2008 workshop sponsored by the Renal Agency with a view to further advancing PD in residential care settings across the province.
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 Renal Unit at new Abbotsford Hospital headed by Fraser Health nephrologists
Kidney patients and caregivers in Fraser Valley east are celebrating the opening of a much-needed and long-awaited dialysis unit in the new Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre. The unit is the latest of several renal care improvements in the area over the last year, says Dr. Daniel Schwartz, who with colleague Dr. Charles Constantine provides nephrology services to the Abbotsford and surrounding population.
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