Tools & Resources

Healthcare professionals looking for educational materials targeting physicians, office staff and patients can find a list of helpful tools and resources on this page. Whether developed by IPRO or by one of the many outstanding organizations working with us in the effort to improve kidney health, the tools, literature and web links listed below will help you improve the care you provide to patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD).

IPRO Resources

Our most recent Kidney Spotlight newsletter includes a wealth of information, useful links and expert advice to help physicians engage patients on managing their kidney disease.

We offer a recommended vaccination schedule for patients with kidney failure and end-stage renal disease.

Visit the Joint Effort New York (JENY) forum on CKD to view and participate in discussion threads related to kidney disease as well as find tools, newsletters and other useful information.

In addition to our work as a Medicare QIO, IPRO serves as the End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Network of New York. To learn more about treating ESRD patients and the educational resources and services we can offer, please visit our ESRD Network site.

Partner Resources

The Fistula First Breakthrough Initiative (FFBI) Web site includes detailed "change concepts" broken out specifically for each healthcare provider type that might be involved with selecting, placing and/or maintaining an AV fistula for patients with kidney failure. If you are a primary care physician, a nephrologist, a surgeon, an interventionalist or healthcare staff caring for patients with CKD in a dialysis facility or hospital, this site has important information that can help you improve the quality of care for your patients.

The National Kidney Foundation has created a handy online tool to enable primary care clinicians to identify and reduce CKD risk through implementation of an action plan for patients. Emphasizing early cardiovascular risk reduction as the key to better CKD outcomes, this interactive tool gives the user ready strategies for timely, evidence-based interventions, plus downloadable information to use with patients.

The National Kidney Disease Education Program (NKDEP) assists practitioners by providing an array of resources and tools.

The Immunization Action Coalition includes a page specific to kidney failure patients on its website. The site offers a variety of educational tools and resources for both healthcare providers and patients.

A service of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse offers multiple tools and resources for physicians treating patients with kidney disease.

The United States Renal Data System (USRDS) is a national data system that collects, analyzes, and distributes information about end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in the United States. The USRDS is funded directly by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) in conjunction with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

The Top 10 Things Nephrologists Wish Every Primary Care Physician Knew is a journal article published by the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.

Hypertension, Dialysis, and Clinical Nephrology is an informational resource for physicians and nurses who treat patients with kidney or renal disease. Find answers to frequently asked questions, pointers to recent review articles and summaries of hot new hypertension, dialysis, and nephrology papers, abstracts and meeting presentations.

The American Nephrology Nurses Association (ANNA) offers educational resources for nephrology nurses, including free fact sheets for downloading as well as training modules, books, journals and multimedia materials for purchase.

The Renal Physicians Association represents and serves the interests of nephrology practitioners in their pursuit and delivery of quality renal healthcare.