DO NOT GO ON HOME HEMO WITH LIFELINE , I had the worst experince and sevral others as well. This company is so bad I would not let them Dialize my DOG. Ther R.O systems are so bad that reports of 20 to 50 tds is a norm at lifeline (R.O Total dissolved solids or water quality). The machine tech Walter is so incapable of doing his job the fresinius H machines are braking down at a alarming rate. They can only keep employees about 2 months if that Patients a little longer due to thoughts of this being normal. I wish this company would get a spankin maybe from state.
If you have a complaint about this clinic and the quality of care that it provides, although you can reach a number of people with our message boards, the state survey agency has the authority to make an unannounced visit, review the clinic’s, review policies and procedures, talk with administration and medical director, review staff qualifications and training, talk with patients and staff, and tour the facility and watch the staff (including home training staff) do what they do.
Every dialysis clinic is supposed to provide patients with information about how to file a grievance internally and with the ESRD network and state survey agency. To find contact information for either of these agencies, go to www.medicare.gov and search for “helpful contacts.” Choose to look by “organization.” You will get a drop down list. Look for ESRD and you’ll see both the ESRD Network and the ESRD survey agency. You’ll then need to choose your state. This will give you the information on how to contact and report your complaint.
If the clinic provides poor care, the survey agency can cite the clinic for failure to comply with the ESRD regulations. The clinic will need to develop a corrective action plan. The state will inspect again to see if the clinic followed through on that plan. Clinics have lost their Medicare funding and have been closed because of poor quality of care.
[QUOTE=Beth Witten MSW ACSW;11997]If you have a complaint about this clinic and the quality of care that it provides, although you can reach a number of people with our message boards, the state survey agency has the authority to make an unannounced visit, review the clinic’s, review policies and procedures, talk with administration and medical director, review staff qualifications and training, talk with patients and staff, and tour the facility and watch the staff (including home training staff) do what they do.
Every dialysis clinic is supposed to provide patients with information about how to file a grievance internally and with the ESRD network and state survey agency. To find contact information for either of these agencies, go to www.medicare.gov and search for “helpful contacts.” Choose to look by “organization.” You will get a drop down list. Look for ESRD and you’ll see both the ESRD Network and the ESRD survey agency. You’ll then need to choose your state. This will give you the information on how to contact and report your complaint.
.[/QUOTE]
Good advice, Beth, with a caveat. I made such a complaint in a DCI unit in Charleston, SC. They had about 12 around the town.
The state health care watchdog of dialysis facilities did such an unannounced 3 day inspection visit and found the clinic neglegent in 3 areas.
The medical director of the area DCI units refused to allow any physicians under his ‘command’ to take me as a patient a month later when mine abruptly switched to the VA hospital. I was without a physican for 6 months( I had a stockpile of supplies) The company (DCI) which the medical director was part owner, then ‘recalled’ my DI tanks and I was forced to drive an hour north to Georgetown, SC to dialyze as no one in the area would accept me as a home patient.
Before you ask, I did see an attorney who eventually declined the case as I did not suffer enough damage (read financial or health).
I don’t say …don’t take this course of action…I say: Be prepared for the dialysis powers-that-be to try and get as much vindication as they can and take precautions.
If the clinic provides poor care, the survey agency can cite the clinic for failure to comply with the ESRD regulations. The clinic will need to develop a corrective action plan. The state will inspect again to see if the clinic followed through on that plan. Clinics have lost their Medicare funding and have been closed because of poor quality of care
Unregistered writes:“I don’t say …don’t take this course of action…I say: Be prepared for the dialysis powers-that-be to try and get as much vindication as they can and take precautions.”
What precautions can one take other than to move to a new location? This is why the system must be changed to offer protection to patients who report a unit. Could you imagine what would happen if today CMS made a ruling that any patient who is harassed for filing a grievance the unit would face charges? There would be an onslaught of grievances filed! Actually, there is a ruling like that, but it’s not enforced across the board.