What's New...

February 15, 2012
As of December 2011, Network 5's AV fistula rate was 58.1%! Learn more about the Fistula First project.

December 15, 2011
As of October 2011, Network 5's AV fistula rate was 57.5! Learn more about the Fistula First project. Network 5 has exceeded the national goal of 57.3% for our network and has met our stretch goal -- five (5) months early!!

November 14, 2011
As of September 2011, Network 5's AV fistula rate was 57.0! Learn more about the Fistula First project.

November 10, 2011
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a final rule that

updates Medicare policies and payment rates for dialysis facilities paid under the End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Prospective Payment System (PPS) and
strengthens incentives for improved quality of care and better outcomes for beneficiaries diagnosed with ESRD through improvements to the ESRD Quality Incentive Program (QIP).

The provisions of the final rule will be effective for payments to dialysis facilities on or after January 1, 2012; and the new requirements for the ESRD QIP described in the final rule will affect the payment rates in payment years (PY) 2013 and 2014.

Payment rates for dialysis treatments will increase by 2.1% in CY 2012 (representing the ESRD market basket increase of 3.0% less a productivity adjustment of 0.9%, as required by statute) and
Under the QIP, payments to individual facilities will be reduced if the facility does not achieve a certain total performance score (based on its performance with respect to measures that assess the quality of dialysis care the facility provided).

Read the CMS press release regarding the final rule. View or download the final rule, which was published today in the Federal Register.

For more information about the ESRD PPS and QIP, please visit http://www.cms.gov/center/esrd.asp.

Please contact the Network office at 804.320.0004 with any questions.

October 17, 2011
As of August 2011, Network 5's AV fistula rate was 56.6! Learn more about the Fistula First project.

August 25, 2011
All eyes are watching and waiting for Hurricane Irene to approach the United States coastline. There is great probability that our Network will be affected within the next 48-hours. Please prepare now! Review and discuss your facility disaster plans with your staff and patients and make sure your patients have plans at home, have supplies available, and are aware of the resources available to them during a time of emergency. Refer to the Emergency Preparedness section of the MARC website for links to:

Local and State Emergency Contacts
Patient Resources (including corporate hotline phone numbers)
Provider Resources (including Disaster Patient Activity Report (DPAR) Forms)

If your facility is directly affected by this event, please notify the Network 5 office immediately by:

Email: marc@nw5.esrd.net or hcecil@nw5.esrd.net
Phone: 804.320.0004
Fax: 804.320.5918

If the Network office experiences a telecommunication disruption or serious outage where phones do not work, we will do our best to direct phones to our backup location: The End-Stage Renal Disease Network of Texas (Network 14) at 972.503.3215.

August 11, 2011
As of June 2011, Network 5's AV fistula rate was 55.9%! Learn more about the Fistula First project.

May 13, 2011
As of March 2011, Network 5's AV fistula rate was 55.1%! We have exceeded our annual goal! Learn more about the Fistula First project.

May 5, 2011
The Network office has moved to its new location. Please update your records to ensure proper mail delivery and phone/fax communications.

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