Fresenius dialysis accepting Medicare, Medicaid

Sept. 28--Fresenius Kidney Care celebrated the expansion of its services to Medicare and Medicaid patients Thursday by holding an open house of its facilities.

The dialysis clinic, which partners with St. Catherine Hospital, has serviced patients with commercial insurance, such as Blue Cross Blue Shield and Aetna, since its opening in June 2016 but was certified to accept Medicare and Medicaid patients last July, said Angel Hickey, clinic manager. With the certification, the clinic is now "open to the public," she said.

"Our primary patients that we have, they can't work anymore, so they're going to be on Medicare or Medicaid. So, that's the majority of our patients. So, it's definitely helped us gain more patients," Hickey said.

The certification has nearly tripled the clinic's patients in the past two months, going from six before certification to 17 after, Hickey said. It also offered another option to the 40 or more local Medicare patients waiting to be admitted to Fresenius but receiving treatment at other facilities, such as DaVita dialysis center in Garden City, according to a press release.

Tending to patients with kidney failure, often because of diabetes or hypertension, the clinic offers both at-home and in-center dialysis, meaning patients can either be trained to take on a more flexible form of treatment at home and come in to the clinic for check-ups, or come to the clinic for treatment with the staff in one of the available 13 stations three times a week. According to the press release, through both programs, the clinic can treat 100 patients a week.

On top of dialysis treatment, the clinic also provides dietary advice and restrictions based on the patient's diagnosis and lab results, and social workers capable of helping manage factors surrounding the patient's health, such as income, insurance and mental health.

"With Fresenius, we have our mission statement and we live by our core values. We treat that person like, if it was your mom sitting in that chair, what are you going to do for your mom to keep your mom healthy? Or if it was an uncle or brother or kid. We're going to treat you like family, and we're going to do what's best for you. I can't say that you're going to get that service everywhere," Hickey said.

Hickey said the clinic also was branching out to offer educational programs to inform locals how to avoid kidney failure.

"I just want to get this clinic full. I want to celebrate that we're open. I want patients to know they're welcome to come here," Hickey said.

Contact Amber Friend at [email protected].

___

(c)2018 The Garden City Telegram (Garden City, Kan.)

Visit The Garden City Telegram (Garden City, Kan.) at www.gctelegram.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.