Nurse Practitioner Care Compared to Primary Care or Nephrologist Care in Chronic Kidney Disease

What is it about?

This study identified patients with chronic kidney disease meeting criteria for nurse practitioner care, and created two matched groups of patients for comparison; 1) nurse practitioner care compared to primary care alone, and 2) nurse practitioner compared with nephrologist care. Care processes were measured within one year following identification, and clinical outcomes were measured over 5 years of follow-up and compared between the two groups.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

Early interventions in chronic kidney disease can improve health outcomes; however, gaps in access to care by kidney specialists remain common. Nurse practitioners can improve access to care; however, the quality and outcomes of nurse practitioner care for chronic kidney disease has been uncertain. This study shows that nurse practitioner care for patients with chronic kidney disease was associated with better guideline-based care than primary care alone or nephrologist care, with clinical outcomes that were better than or equivalent to primary care alone, and similar to those with care by kidney specialists.