Hi
My dad is planning to visit us from India, he is undergoing haemodialysis there over last 2 years (twice/week).
Has anyone experienced using dialysis facilities such as Davita or others and can share how safe it is for a visitor ? It’s critical that he undergoes dialysis twice/week given his kidney condition.
Pls advise.. I am in Alpharetta (GA)
I understand that we need to pay for his dialysis as he is a visitor but to me biggest concern is how safe will be for him to travel and get his dialysis done here in US.
I assume that he has the appropriate travel documents and a passport that won’t expire got at least 6 months. I wouldn’t want him to get in trouble with immigration.
To feel more comfortable about his safety at dialysis, I’d suggest you visit the dialysis clinic(s) in your area and talk with the clinic administrator or nurse manager. I’d ask about the charge per treatment and what the doctor charges (they’re separate) and watch how they treat their patients on dialysis. Ask what rules they have. Try to get a “feel” for how clean, comfortable, friendly, and responsive the staff is.
Your father needs to do all he can to make dialysis as comfortable as possible by following the renal diet and limiting fluids. If he gains a lot between treatments and the clinic has to remove too much fluid in one treatment, he might have cramping or nausea. Removing fluid too fast can damage organs. The nonprofit that set up this forum created a calculator to know how much fluid can be removed safely.
Most people in the U.S. do dialysis 3x/week and that just replaces about 15% of kidney function, which is why many people have symptoms. I’d he or you can afford 3 treatments a week, he might do better.
If you’re asking about his safety in the community at large, I’d suggest you talk with the local police to find out what safety precautions he and you should take. Here’s that calculator. Ultrafiltration Rate Calculator (UFR) - Home Dialysis Central
I hope your father has a great stay and his dialysis treatment goes smoothly.
The Medicare website has information on dialysis clinics. You can see a list by distance from the zip code where your father will be staying. The database defaults to 25 miles, but you can change that up to 200 miles. When you get the list of clinics, you will see Medicare ranks them with stars (0-5) based on how well they scored on different clinical measures (Quality Rating) and there is a star ranking by patients (Patient Survey Rating). Under Services, check the box for in-center hemodialysis. Here’s the link to the Medicare website’s database.
Medicare developed a checklist to help people choose a dialysis clinic. There are questions you could ask on the phone to screen clinics before you visit. Some questions you can only get answers for by checking out the clinic in person.