Every year, our Bureau of Medical Facilities Licensing partners with stakeholders to provide a daylong educational session for end-stage renal dialysis (ESRD) providers in Arizona. This year marked the sixth year of our ADVICE (Arizona Developing Value Through Innovation and Communication with ESRD Providers) Collaborative held on June 21, 2018. This year’s theme was centered on patient engagement. Approximately 211 participants learned about data-driven opportunities to improve dialysis services in Arizona and share best practices in quality management, infection prevention, and emergency preparedness.

Participants heard from experts from our Division of Public Health Licensing, our Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI) & Antibiotic Resistance Program, and national speakers on a variety of topics regarding patient engagement. We even had several guest patient-speakers who shared their experiences with the attendees.

Some of the speakers included:

  • Prabir Roy-Chaudhury, our keynote speaker, who spoke about “Patient Centered Innovation in Kidney Disease: Challenges and Opportunities;
  • Chris Brown who spoke about the importance of “Emergency Preparedness: Hurricanes Irma and Maria – Experiences and Lessons Learned”;
  • Stephanie Booth, who spoke about “Making Dialysis Safer for Patients: Infection Control”, and;
  • Felicia Speed who capped off the day with speaking about “Getting Engaged and Motivated”.

These presentations are available on our 2018 ADVICE Collaborative webpage.

Overall, the conference evaluation ratings were excellent!  Respondents agreed that they gained new skills and strategies to apply in their practice and that the knowledge they gained at the conference will improve their competence, performance, and patient outcomes at their facilities.

Each year’s ADVICE Collaborative gives us new insight into the challenges faced by Arizona dialysis providers and identifies the best and promising practices these providers implement to provide excellent patient care. In addition to identifying educational topics of importance for future years’ collaborative, provider engagement in ADVICE has led to the formation of ESRD Subcommittee of our HAI Advisory Committee, which works throughout the year to generate meaningful tools and resources for ESRD providers and patients in Arizona. We look forward to next year’s ADVICE Collaborative and our continued engagement with the dialysis community.