Professional Communication in Dialysis Access

A comprehensive dialysis access center (CDAC), is a devoted center designed to care for the vascular access needs for hemodialysis patients. CDAC enables outpatient procedures to be performed in a safe, effective and efficient manner, thereby reducing hospitalization and the ultimate cost for dialysis access care. CDAC can focus on quality for a limited set of procedures and enable less fragmentation of care often seen with multiple providers in multiple venues. As such they provide the best model to improve dialysis access care. Depending on the breadth of available skills of a multidisciplinary group, services can extend from access creation to access maturation and long-term maintenance. CDAC can also provide focused training and research opportunities for physicians interested in this field. In this chapter, we will discuss the importance of building a strong communication network between physicians, patients, and other colleagues involved in the entire system of hemodialysis patients care, that has not only shown to improve patient and physician satisfaction, but also with better outcomes.