Chronic Kidney Disease Surveillance

Funded by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention

Principal Investigator Dr. Rajiv Saran (P.I.), University of Michigan Kidney Epidemiology and Cost Center	Coinvestigators Eric Young, MD, MS, University of Michigan Brenda Gillespie, PhD, University of Michigan Friedrich Port, MD, MS, Arbor Research, Ann Arbor, MI
	William Herman, MD, University of Michigan Randall Webb, BA, University of Michigan Jerry Yee, MD Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI

Chronic Kidney Disease Surveillance Project Awarded to UM-KECC

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is now recognized as a major public health problem for which a comprehensive public health approach is urgently needed. Dr. Rajiv Saran, MD, MRCP, MS, Associate Professor of Medicine and his team at the Kidney Epidemiology and Cost Center (UM-KECC) were recently awarded a 2-year grant by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in order to pilot a National Surveillance System for Chronic Kidney Disease in the US. The CDC has similarly funded the Welch Center at Johns Hopkins University (PI: Dr Neil Powe, MD, MPH, MBA), to work collaboratively with the UM-KECC and the CDC toward developing and testing this surveillance system.

A CKD surveillance system would serve to assess the prevalence and impact of CKD on our health care system and provide a quantitative assessment of the resources utilized by those with CKD. It would also assess the quality of care delivered to those with this condition and identify areas where quality improvements could be made in order to slow progression of disease (and therefore the need for renal replacement therapy) as well as reduce the high morbidity and mortality associated with this condition. The methodology proposed by the team at UM-KECC includes examination of both national as well as local data sources relevant to CKD. It is also envisaged that data from a representative group of managed care plans and the veterans affairs health system will form part of this surveillance model.

Dr. Jerry Yee at the Henry Ford Hospital will be conducting CKD surveillance within the Health Alliance Plan of Detroit as a component of this surveillance project. Successful feasibility and pilot testing of the proposed system will be essential to allow the establishment of national CKD surveillance that will likely shape quality improvement, promote research and inform health policy related to CKD.