Caregivers and patients have a new tool for collecting and sharing resources when it comes to diagnosing and treating a disease which afflicts one-in-10 Albertans.
The CKD Clinical Pathway, an online resource for exchanging chronic kidney disease information, was created by Alberta-based researchers, physicians, pharmacists, nurses and nephrologists, kidney specialists.
Dr. Brenda Hemmelgarn, the Department Head of Nephrology for AHS Calgary Zone, led the research team in the development of the site.
“The issue is that there are no symptoms with kidney disease until it's very advanced, until it's essentially kidney failure,” said Dr. Hemmelgarn. ‘Unless the proper blood and urine tests are done early, it's not detected
After submitting test results to the website without disclosing the identity of their patient, family doctors, including Dr.Kerry McBrien, will receive information on best practices for standardized care and web links to patient handouts for managing the disease.
“It gives us a lot of tools we need to use in that intervening time, so when we don't need a specialist on board, but we can manage it ourselves,” said Dr. McBrien. “All of that information is right there at our finger tips.”
For more information, visit Chronic Kidney Disease Clinical Pathway
