Letter

For years, it has seemed apparent that the present system for treating and paying for the care of kidney patients has been in serious need of an overhaul. While a plethora of proposals and ideas have been promulgated, and debated, little has changed with respect to reimbursement and the consequential rehabilitation of the kidney patient.

Larry Coutts

Last October, we met with our multidiscipline Editorial Advisory Board to review the current state of nephrology and what more we could be doing to influence the direction our government and our society takes in reimbursement and regulation of renal care. There was agreement that one of the stumbling blocks to the attempts by various renal professional groups to effect change is the inherent suspicion that their motives were self-serving .

By its design and mission,Nephrology News & Issues is a publication providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and opinions in renal care "balancing economics and quality." Thus, it was agreed, NN&I would be a logical organizing agent to convene a conference focused on developing strategies to remove the economic barriers to the delivery of quality patient care. The board was overwhelmingly enthusiastic about the idea, and weighed in with numerous suggestions regarding scope and content.

The preliminary program outline for the Kidney Disease Economics Conference presented on these pages illustrates the ambitious expectations of our Editorial Advisory Board to strive for "ideal" not "adequate" patient care, by identifying the economic barriers to achieving those goals and developing strategies to remove them.

Mark Neumann

This conference is intended for those patients and care-givers with a passion for quality and a vision of how care can and will be delivered in the future. There will be general sessions for all attendees, and breakout sessions for specific patient and care-giving disciplines. Balanced representation and participation from patients, physicians, nurses, dietitians, social workers, technicians, administrators, government policy-makers, and private insurers is vital to achieving our goal. The breakout sessions are intended to be "working" sessions with results brought back to the general session for discussion, debate and developing consensus.

The program is divided into three days with the first day devoted to an analysis of the present healthcare economic environment, followed by the presentation of approaches for achieving "ideal" patient care, and concluding on the third day with the development of specific strategies to remove the economic barriers. You will note that on the second day after a day and a half of intense work, an afternoon of social activities is scheduled to allow participants to discuss in small groups some of the concepts, ideas and approaches presented in a more casual environment. It is anticipated that this will enhance the discussions on the concluding day, and you are encouraged to plan to attend only if you will be participating all three days.

A limited number of rooms have been blocked for this conference at the Pointe Hilton Resort at Squaw Peak at a very favorable rate. To make your reservations and/or to submit an abstract for consideration of inclusion in this Conference, please use the links on this website.

Sincerely.

Larry Coutts & Mark Neumann