Wednesay, April 15, 2009

Lynda Szczech: 1st woman president of the National Kidney Foundation
By Kelly Winget

The DCRI's Lynda Szczech was recently nominated as the first woman president-elect of the National Kidney Foundation (NKF). She will begin her duties as president in October 2010, and she will spend some time up until then learning more about the Foundation's role in shaping and influencing public policy on kidney disease.

Szczech has two significant goals that she wants to address while serving as the Foundation's president. The first is reaching out to the HIV-infected community, as those patients have an increased risk of kidney disease. She also wants the NKF to thoroughly analyze the new Medicare bundling laws for dialysis payments to determine if the new laws will affect the delivery of care and then suggest any changes in policy that are necessary.

Szczech believes it is crucial for specialists to work more closely together, particularly since patients with kidney disease often have other existing health concerns, such as cardiology problems.

“I would like to reach out to providers in the HIV-infected community, because their patients have an increased risk of kidney disease, on top of other risk factors. I want the NKF to help build a model for reaching out to these subspecialties,” said Szczech. “Often, specialists act in a primary care role to their patients. Doctors can sometimes exist in a silo, but most patients do not have only one doctor. For example, cardiologists might have to handle nephrology problems as well.”

Reaching out to the HIV community is in line with the NKF's international goals and efforts to improve care for patients with kidney disease around the world. Because there is such a prevalence of HIV cases in Africa , reaching out to the HIV community could help the NKF expand efforts in that part of the world.

Her second main focus as president could impact all patients in the U.S. with kidney disease, said Szczech. In 2010, Medicare will be changing the way it reimburses for dialysis payments. Instead of billing separately for different medications used in dialysis, it will all be bundled into one payment. Many health insurance companies typically follow Medicare's reimbursement policies. Szczech said it will be important for the NKF to see how this change will impact the delivery of care, and to provide insurance companies with feedback about how these changes affect patients.

Dialysis care is costly, and Szczech says it is important to balance the costs with providing the best possible care and with providers getting properly reimbursed for their services.

“The bundling laws could possibly lead to hiring less experienced staff or switching patients from intravenous medication to oral medicine. The former is likely not a good thing and the latter may not necessarily be a bad thing, but we have to assess it and provide feedback,” said Szczech.

While Szczech prepares for her new role as president of the NKF, she will be looking to strengthen relationships with infectious disease organizations to help further the NKF's focus on kidney disease internationally as well as within the U.S.

“When I found out I was nominated for this role, I was a little overwhelmed, flattered, and honored,” said Szczech. “I want to make sure I continue on with the good work the NKF has been doing. And I am very proud to serve as the first woman president.”