CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE (CKD) PATIENT EDUCATION PROGRAM
Jaimie Smith RSW,BSW Patient Educator
The purpose of the CKD Education Program is to positively impact the lives of individuals diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease through education, skill building, and psychosocial support. Participants are taught how to live healthier lifestyles to promote kidney health. They also learn to participate in their plan of care and have more meaningful interactions with their physicians.
Kidney Care Education Classes:
• Teach participants how to preserve kidney function through making good lifestyle choices
• Encourage proactive participation in a plan of care
• Are conducted in an environment that is informal and personal
• Teach participants how to read and understand lab results, as well as how diet affects the results
• Teach participants tools to facilitate meaningful conversations with a health care provider
• Explain treatment plans for Chronic Kidney Disease, Hypertension, Anemia, and Bone Disease
• Explain the treatment options for End Stage Renal Disease
• Provide an opportunity to meet with a Renal Nutrition Specialist and Certified Diabetic Educator
Kidney Care Education Classes are held weekly. They are free of charge and open to patients, caregivers, and those at risk for Chronic Kidney Disease. Each class is one and one half hours in length. Individual education consults are also available by request.
Renal Nutrition Class or individual dietary consults are also available upon physician referral. Nutrition services are not free.
Kidney Care Education Classes:
• Teach participants how to preserve kidney function through making good lifestyle choices
• Encourage proactive participation in a plan of care
• Are conducted in an environment that is informal and personal
• Teach participants how to read and understand lab results, as well as how diet affects the results
• Teach participants tools to facilitate meaningful conversations with a health care provider
• Explain treatment plans for Chronic Kidney Disease, Hypertension, Anemia, and Bone Disease
• Explain the treatment options for End Stage Renal Disease
• Provide an opportunity to meet with a Renal Nutrition Specialist and Certified Diabetic Educator
Kidney Care Education Classes are held weekly. They are free of charge and open to patients, caregivers, and those at risk for Chronic Kidney Disease. Each class is one and one half hours in length. Individual education consults are also available by request.
Renal Nutrition Class or individual dietary consults are also available upon physician referral. Nutrition services are not free.
LABRATORY SERVICES
Laboratory services play an important role diagnosis and treatment of renal related problems. We provide these services on site for the convenience of our patients
LAB INFORMATION FOR PATIENTS:
Lab Mission Statement:
Renal Associates Lab (RAL) prides itself in producing accurate, dependable and timely results in order to provide our patients with the compassionate, high quality care they deserve.
Hours:
7:15am-4pm Monday through Friday (excluding holidays)
Lab Appointments:
In order to provide the best possible service with minimal wait time, patients with routine lab orders will be given an appointment time. We ask that you arrive 5 minutes before your scheduled time, and check-in with a receptionist.
Wait time:
We work hard to minimize your wait time and ask that patients let a receptionist know if they are still waiting 15 minutes past the appointment time.
Fasting Labs:
Lipid panels are run to check cholesterol levels in the blood. To get accurate readings, the patient must fast for 10-12 hours prior to having blood drawn. You may drink water, but please do not have any food or other beverages prior to your appointment. If you are diabetic, and unable to fast, please inform the lab staff prior to being drawn, so that we can notify your physician.
Patients who have had a transplant:
The Tacrolimus test is an important test used to measure the amount of drug (Tacrolimus, Sirolimus, Rapamycin, Cyclosporin) in the blood. It must be performed 30 minutes prior to your next dose of medicine. Please schedule your lab appointments for this test 30 minutes before you normally take your medicine, and let a receptionist know if you are kept waiting 5 minutes past your appointment time.
Patients receiving injections (in our office):
If labs need to be drawn prior to receiving an injection, the lab will draw your blood and you will be asked to wait in the patient lobby while the test is run. Once completed, we will send your results to a nurse, who will call you back to the clinic for your injection or to discuss your results. Please remember to schedule your next lab/injection appointment with a receptionist upon leaving.
Reference Labs:
While we perform many of the tests ordered by Renal Associates providers, there are some tests that we cannot run on site. In these cases we will draw your blood and send it to an external reference lab to perform the test.