The KidneyPal team is a specialty palliative care service that aims to provide extra support for patients living with advanced kidney disease. The interprofessional team consists of a nurse practitioner, a social worker, and physicians who see patients and their loved ones in inpatient and outpatient settings. They work together with your nephrologist, primary care clinician, and other medical providers.
The KidneyPal team can see patients at any age and any stage of illness. It is not the same as hospice or end of life care, though sometimes care does involve these services. The KidneyPal team cares for a wide variety of patients and their families. Patients may have chronic kidney disease, be preparing to start dialysis, already on dialysis, or living with a kidney transplantation.
The KidneyPal team offers three main types of support:
The KidneyPal team assists some patients in the process of deciding whether or not to start dialysis. When patients develop kidney failure in addition to advanced age or other serious illnesses (like dementia, heart failure, cirrhosis, or cancer), dialysis does not always improve quality of life or survival. Conservative Kidney Management is a form of care that uses medications to slow the rate of kidney function loss and manage symptoms without dialysis. The KidneyPal team provides conservative kidney management to patients whose goals and values match this path of care. For more information, please request a consultation with our team. You can also visit ckmcare.com.
In the inpatient setting, your nephrologist or other clinicians may ask for KidneyPal to meet you and your family to provide an additional support. The KidneyPal team will see you during your time in the hospital.
In the outpatient setting, the KidneyPal team holds a weekly clinic at 45 Francis Street on Thursday afternoons. Your nephrologist or primary care clinician can refer you to the outpatient KidneyPal clinic.
For questions or to request an appointment directly from the KidneyPal team, please call 617-632-4263.
For over a century, a leader in patient care, medical education and research, with expertise in virtually every specialty of medicine and surgery.
About BWH
