New IU Hospital dialysis facility will train patients to use at-home units

IU Hospital, located in Indianapolis, will add a second facility to its dialysis unit next year to aid in the expansion of its home services.\nThe expansion of the dialysis unit is due to the growing need for patients to be able to treat themselves from their own homes on their own terms, said Cathy Cox, the facility’s home training manager. The facility will help train the 400 to 500 patients it expects to use their portable dialysis machines and will likely open in March 2008. \nMichael Kraus, medical director of the dialysis unit for IU Hospital, said the second facility’s function will assist patients who want to do their dialysis from home with the aid of a new portable suitcase-sized dialysis unit. \n“With the new facility, we will be able to treat more dialysis patients and train them on the device,” Kraus said. \nPeople who suffer from kidney failure use dialysis to reduce extra water and waste products that their kidneys can no longer rid the body of, Cox said.\nKraus said they hope to be able to eventually treat 400 to 500 active dialysis patients at the new location. Cox added that the hospital intends to open the new facility by March 2008. \nMary Scourick, market development manager for NxStage Medical Inc., which created the devices, said the new unit allows patients to operate the device with the assistance of a partner, rather than with a doctor at the hospital. Scourick said that once the device has been prescribed by a physician, the patient and their partner must go through a three-week training session on how to use the device. \nThe device cleans the blood, then returns it to the body, Scourick said. \n“The NxStage device acts like an artificial kidney by removing excess fluid and toxins from the body,” Scourick said. \nWith the device, patients will only have to use the machine for two hours a day, six days a week, Cox said. The machine offers more freedom because patients can choose which day not to use the device. It also allows patients to receive treatment at home, instead of in the hospital, she said.\n“Patients take their supplies with them wherever they go,” Cox said. “They can fly and travel anywhere with this portable device which is unusual for dialysis patients.” \nScourick said that NxStage Medical provides patients with 24-hour technical support if they have any problems or if the device displays error messages. There is always a nurse on-call from the clinic where they learned to use the device to offer assistance as well. \n“Having patients on this (portable dialysis device) is a way of giving them their life back,” Cox said.