Physiologic Regulation of EPO Production for CKD-Anemia: An Opportunity to Enhance Access to Care

Target Audience
The educational design of this activity addresses the needs of nephrologists, dialysis center medical directors, hospitalists, hematologists, and specialty NPs and PAs. Secondary audiences include primary care clinicians, internal medicine specialists, cardiologists, endocrinologists, family medicine and/or allied NPs and PAs.

Statement of Need/Program Overview
Anemia in chronic kidney disease (CKD) is often under-recognized and undertreated, leaving patients to live with a significant health burden. Further, patients from certain racial and ethnic groups disproportionately suffer from poor screening rates and a lack of appropriate management of their anemia. Emerging agents for the management of anemia in CKD target a novel physiologic pathway and, if approved, could provide additional options to relieve the burden associated with anemia in CKD.

Join a panel of expert nephrologists and patient advocates to explore the current treatment landscape for anemia in CKD, including iron supplementation and use of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents. Panelists will review emerging agents, investigational hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase inhibitors, including their mechanism of action, efficacy, and safety. Clinicians will also discover strategies to improve access to anemia care for under-resourced and diverse patient populations.

Learning Objectives
After completing this activity, the participant should be better able to:

Describe the personal and societal burden of anemia and its care on patients with CKD, including those undergoing dialysis
Discuss strategies to enhance access to anemia care for racial groups, such as Black patients, to ensure they receive proper and timely diagnoses and management
Summarize the role of hypoxia-inducible factor in the production of EPO
Summarize experience data with hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl hydroxylase inhibitors in increasing Hb levels compared to standard of care in both dialysis-dependent patients and patients not receiving dialysis