Category Archives: DPC

Dialysis and Suriving Washington, DC

Posted on April 27, 2016 by DevonTexas

April 26, 2016: I survived! I’m at Reagan National Airport awaiting my flight home. There’s some question about the landing part as there are severe thunderstorms expected over Dallas tonight. We’ll see. I just want to get home. We got … Continue reading →

Posted in activism, Davita, dialysis, Dialysis Center, Dialysis Patient Citizens, DPC, ESRD, kidney, lobbying, Medicare, patient care, Patient-Centered Care, World Kidney Day | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

In Washington DC

Posted on April 25, 2016 by DevonTexas

For the fourth or fifth year, I’m in DC to lobby Congress on behalf of Dialysis patients as a member and Patient Ambassador with DPC (Dialysis Patient Citizens). You can help by calling or emailing your Representative and Senators and tell … Continue reading →

Posted in CKD, dialysis, Dialysis Patient Citizens, DPC, kidney, lobbying, Medicare, politics, Uncategorized, World Kidney Day | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dialysis and “Doc Fix”

Posted on April 15, 2015 by DevonTexas

Finally, after SEVENTEEN years, Congress has passed the “doc fix” bill to fill a hole they created in 1997. Read about it here…  From the DPC website, here’s the impact on dialysis patients based on the House version of the … Continue reading →

Posted in CMS, dialysis, Dialysis Center, Dialysis Patient Citizens, DPC, ESRD, kidney, lobbying, Medicare, politics, Social Work | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dialysis and the 5-star @CMS Rating

Posted on February 13, 2015 by DevonTexas

Dialysis Patient Citizens recently reported on their efforts to respond to the CMS 5-star Rating System.  Under this system, the Mayo Clinic, for example, got a 1-star rating.  Obviously this is not a good measure of patient feelings or experience. … Continue reading →

Posted in CMS, Dialysis Center, Dialysis Patient Citizens, DPC, ESRD, lobbying, Medicare, ratings | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dialysis Insomnia

Posted on February 11, 2015 by DevonTexas

Hey all! Good News!  I posted an update to my previous article about “Dialysis and Insomnia”.  I want to get this message out to everyone because a large percentage of dialysis patients also have insomnia.  (If there are some researchers … Continue reading →

Posted in dialysis, Dialysis Patient Citizens, DPC, ESRD, exercise, kidney, lobbying, National Kidney Foundation. NKF | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dialysis Centers and @CMS 5-star Rating

Posted on September 7, 2014 by DevonTexas

In a previous related post,  I promised I would post more about the Davita position on this when I got it.  So, here it is and it makes some good points.  “What’s Wrong With the 5-Star Rating System for the … Continue reading →

Posted in CMS, dialysis, Dialysis Center, Dialysis Patient Citizens, DPC, ESRD, kidney, lobbying, Medicare, politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Dialysis and HR-4814

Posted on July 20, 2014 by DevonTexas

I’m going to pester you about this because it’s way too important so, please forgive me. Recently, a bill called “H.R.4814 – Chronic Kidney Disease Improvement in Research and Treatment Act of 2014” was introduced in the U.S. House of … Continue reading →

Posted in activism, dialysis, Dialysis Patient Citizens, DPC, ESRD, kidney, lobbying, patient care | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Dialysis and Kidney Care Bill

Posted on July 10, 2014 by DevonTexas

A bill has been entered into the House of Representatives that is extremely important to all of us kidney and dialysis patients.   According to the Dialysis Patient Citizen: This bill seeks to advance several proactive kidney care policy initiatives … Continue reading →

Posted in dialysis, Dialysis Patient Citizens, DPC, ESRD, Insurance, lobbying, Medicare, patient care, thankful, thoughts, World Kidney Day | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dialysis and Hurricanes

Posted on June 14, 2014 by DevonTexas

June is the beginning of the Hurricane Season and with them come tornadoes inland.  If you live in an area hit by either storm type, take heed! We learned a lot about disaster prep  here in Texas after Katrina.  The ESRD … Continue reading →

Posted in activism, dialysis, Dialysis Center, Dialysis Patient Citizens, dietary restictions, disaster planning, DPC, ESRD, Home dialysis, Insurance, New Patient, patient care | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Dialysis and Nutrition

Posted on June 2, 2014 by DevonTexas

The Dialysis Patient Citizens Education Center held a really good telephone conference last week about Nutritional issues for dialysis patients. On this call, Sara Colman-Carlson, Nutrition Manager of DaVita.com, addresses the important nutrients kidney patients need to monitor in order … Continue reading →

Posted in Dialysis Patient Citizens, diet, dietary restictions, DPC, ESRD, New Patient, phosphorus, potassium | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment