The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Pitt's School of Medicine are widening their reach in the research and treatment of kidney disease, officials said Tuesday.
UPMC has partnered with two leading providers of outpatient dialysis services to co-own 18 dialysis clinics throughout the region, officials said.
Ten clinics are operated by Fresenius Medical Care, which runs 2,297 clinics worldwide; eight are operated by Dialysis Clinic Inc., a nonprofit based in Nashville that operates 205 clinics in 26 states.
Kidney disease patients at UPMC were limited to three clinics close to its Oakland campus, said Dr. Thomas R. Kleyman, a nephrologist who is chief of the renal-electrolyte division at UPMC.
"When patients are on dialysis, it is most convenient to go to a center in reasonable proximity to where they live," Kleyman said. "It's hard to get into Oakland, and dialysis is performed three times a week."
Dialysis is widely used as treatment for people with end-stage renal disease, often because of complications from diabetes or high blood pressure. Kleyman's practice at UPMC Presbyterian has about 200 patients on dialysis every year. The practice loses about 25 patients a year, partly because they go to other clinics or undergo kidney transplantation, Kleyman said.
The new UPMC-affiliated clinics are certified by Medicare, the federal insurance plan for elderly and disabled people. Medicare pays for most dialysis treatment for people with permanent kidney failure, even for those younger than 65, according to federal guidelines.
Officials also announced yesterday Pitt will create one of eight national centers to study kidney disease. The George M. O'Brien Kidney Research Center is being funded with a nearly $4 million grant from the National Institutes of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
The center will help attract investigators from across the country and support the research of about 30 Pitt faculty members, Kleyman said.
