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Transforming the Future of Kidney Care

Our Mission

The California Kidney Care Association (CKCA) is committed to providing all Californians access to the most effective, life-enriching kidney care through increased prevention awareness, expanded access to treatment, and improved quality of services at every level. 

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Education & Events

The CKCA values education and provides leading-edge science-based resources and legislative guidance to healthcare professionals, the public, and government entities, which drive continuous improvements in patient care and outcomes. Our signature annual conference and ongoing seminars offer healthcare providers premier learning experiences that emphasize the highest quality of patient care. All our facilitators and instructors are leading experts in the field with renowned experience in comprehensive kidney care wellness and treatment.

We are approved to provide continuing education units through the California Board of Registered Nursing, Commission on Dietetic Registration, and Board of Behavioral Sciences.

Certifications

Become a Certified Hemodialysis Technician

Events

Join members of the Kidney Care community at our annual conference and other events

Our Work

The California Kidney Care Alliance is the leading comprehensive kidney care association offering holistic healthcare advocacy, training, and treatment across the state. We are the only End-Stage Renal Disease organization exclusively dedicated to California dialysis issues, achieving numerous milestones over the past 42 years.

Key Accomplishments

  • Sponsored several pieces of legislation which streamlined and clarified the confusing hemodialysis technician training and testing law, originally passed in 1981. 

  • Sponsored legislation to eliminate the need for a Treatment Authorization Request (TAR) prior to initiating dialysis for Medi-Cal patients.

  • Worked with the Rate Development Branch in the Department of Health Care Services to secure a 2.4% rate increase in Medi-Cal rates in 2001.

  • Stopped legislation to limit the number of lab tests for Medi-Cal patients to 6 per month.

  • Sponsored legislation and worked with the Department to set reasonable clinic licensure fees.

  • Strenuously opposed and ultimately defeated several attempts to eliminate non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) provided to ESRD patients under the Medi-Cal program.

  • Worked to improve ESRD claims processing procedures under Medicare and Medi-Cal.

  • Established an administrative office to serve as a resource for the CDC membership.

  • Worked to add important medications to the Medi-Cal formulary and to establish Medi-Cal reimbursement for EPO and Urokinase to be in line with that of Medicare.

  • Established an ESRD Network Liaison committee to work with Networks 17 & 18.

  • Sponsored legislation which eliminated duplicative reporting requirements of the Office of Statewide Health Planning & Development (OSHPD) as required in the State Annual Report of Clinics.

  • Developed a "Managed Care Document" as an aid to facility members in the education of Managed Care Organizations regarding dialysis.

  • Worked closely with ESRD Network 17 and DHS after the 1991 Northridge earthquake to educate members on disaster preparedness.

  • Established liaisons with national ESRD organizations.

  • Opposed various attempts to reduce reimbursement rates for services provided to Medi-Cal beneficiaries. 

Quantifying Savings

To quantify just a few of our accomplishments (based on an 85 patient hemodialysis unit):
 

  • Licensing fees: the decrease in licensing fees averaged over an 85 patient unit that performs 13,260 treatments per year is $0.08/treatment.

  • Without Medi-Cal transportation, patients would miss treatments, resulting in lost revenue to the facility and an increase in hospitalizations. The statewide average of Medi-Cal patients is 27%. If seventeen patients have Medi-Cal and miss 10% of their treatments for a year due to ride problems, the facility loses revenue of almost $50,000 per year, or $3.75 per treatment averaged over the total treatments for the facility for the year.

  • Elimination of the Medi-Cal crossover, taking into account the 20% of the composite rate, and 20% of the average amount of reimbursable medications, would amount to $44.02 lost revenue per treatment.

  • Eliminating reuse of dialyzers, taking into account reprocessing equipment, supplies, and labor would still result in a loss of $13.03 per treatment.

  • The legislature proposed to eliminate 12/13 of the monthly capitation fee paid to nephrologists for Peritoneal Dialysis patients. The rationale was that they were seen in clinic only once a month. Decreasing this reimbursement would have result in a loss of $6.65 per treatment averaged more than 30 PD treatments per month.

  • These savings add up to over $60.88 per treatment, not including the nephrologist PD fee! 

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Our Impact: By the Numbers

In an era of cost containment, decreasing revenues, and consolidations, all expenditures must be justified, whether on the corporate or clinic level.

 

To quantify just a few of our accomplishments — based on an 85-patient hemodialysis unit — here’s a look at the numbers:

$0.08/Treatment

Licensing Fees

The decrease in licensing fees averaged over an 85-patient unit that performs 13,260 treatments per year.

$50,000 Annually

Loss in Revenue

Without Medi-Cal transportation, patients would miss treatments, resulting in lost revenue to the facility and an increase in hospitalizations.

$44.02/Treatment

Loss in Revenue

Elimination of the Medi-Cal crossover, taking into account the 20% of the composite rate, and 20% of the average amount of reimbursable medications.

$13.03/Treatment

Loss in Revenue

Eliminating reuse of dialyzers, taking into account reprocessing equipment, supplies, and labor.

$6.65/Treatment

Loss in Revenue

Proposed legislation to eliminate 12/13 of the monthly capitation fee paid to nephrologists for Peritoneal Dialysis patients. Decreasing this reimbursement would result in a loss of $6.65 per treatment averaged over 30 PD treatments per month. These savings add up to more than $60.88 per treatment, not including the nephrologist PD fee!

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