§ 494.80 Condition: Patient assessment.

The facility's interdisciplinary team consists of, at a minimum, the patient or the patient's designee (if the patient chooses), a registered nurse, a physician treating the patient for kidney failure, a social worker, and a dietitian. The interdisciplinary team is responsible for providing each patient with an individualized and comprehensive assessment of his or her needs. The comprehensive assessment must be used to develop the patient's treatment plan and expectations for care.

(a) Standard: Assessment criteria. The patient's comprehensive assessment must include, but is not limited to, the following:

(1) Evaluation of current health status and medical condition, including co-morbid conditions.

(2) Evaluation of the appropriateness of the dialysis prescription, blood pressure, and fluid management needs.

(3) Laboratory profile, immunization history, and medication history.

(4) Evaluation of factors associated with anemia, such as hematocrit, hemoglobin, iron stores, and potential treatment plans for anemia, including administration of erythropoiesis-stimulating agent(s).

(5) Evaluation of factors associated with renal bone disease.

(6) Evaluation of nutritional status by a dietitian.

(7) Evaluation of psychosocial needs by a social worker.

(8) Evaluation of dialysis access type and maintenance (for example, arteriovenous fistulas, arteriovenous grafts, and peritoneal catheters).

(9) Evaluation of the patient's abilities, interests, preferences, and goals, including the desired level of participation in the dialysis care process; the preferred modality (hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis), and setting, (for example, home dialysis), and the patient's expectations for care outcomes.

(10) Evaluation of suitability for a transplantation referral, based on criteria developed by the prospective transplantation center and its surgeon(s). If the patient is not suitable for transplantation referral, the basis for nonreferral must be documented in the patient's medical record.

(11) Evaluation of family and other support systems.

(12) Evaluation of current patient physical activity level.

(13) Evaluation for referral to vocational and physical rehabilitation services.

(b) Standard: Frequency of assessment for patients admitted to the dialysis facility. (1) An initial comprehensive assessment must be conducted on all new patients (that is, all admissions to a dialysis facility), within the latter of 30 calendar days or 13 outpatient hemodialysis sessions beginning with the first outpatient dialysis session.

(2) A follow up comprehensive reassessment must occur within 3 months after the completion of the initial assessment to provide information to adjust the patient's plan of care specified in § 494.90.

(c) Standard: Assessment of treatment prescription. The adequacy of the patient's dialysis prescription, as described in § 494.90(a)(1), must be assessed on an ongoing basis as follows:

(1) Hemodialysis patients. At least monthly by calculating delivered Kt/V or an equivalent measure.

(2) Peritoneal dialysis patients. At least every 4 months by calculating delivered weekly Kt/V or an equivalent measure.

(d) Standard: Patient reassessment. In accordance with the standards specified in paragraphs (a)(1) through (a)(13) of this section, a comprehensive reassessment of each patient and a revision of the plan of care must be conducted—

(1) At least annually for stable patients; and

(2) At least monthly for unstable patients including, but not limited to, patients with the following:

(i) Extended or frequent hospitalizations;

(ii) Marked deterioration in health status;

(iii) Significant change in psychosocial needs; or

(iv) Concurrent poor nutritional status, unmanaged anemia, and inadequate dialysis.

[73 FR 20475, Apr. 15, 2008, as amended at 89 FR 89213, Nov. 12, 2024]