Kidney Policy Increases Patient Referrals, Evaluations

Following implementation of the kidney allocation system (KAS) in 2014, dialysis facilities referred more new dialysis patients and transplant centers evaluated more new patients even though fewer evaluated patients were placed onto the transplant waitlist, analysis of data from three southeastern states shows.

“Nationally, we have seen declines in waitlisting, which is an unintended consequence of this policy change. There is less urgency to waitlist patients earlier because they are not accruing time on the list based on the date they were placed on the list,” Rachel Patzer, PhD, MPH, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, told Medscape Medical News in an email. Read more.