Community Practice Connections™: Visualizing New Treatment Pathways for Anemia in Chronic Kidney Disease

Target Audience
This educational activity is directed toward hematologists, nurses, and other health care professionals involved in the treatment of patients with CKD-related anemia.

Program Overview
Anemia is a common complication in chronic kidney disease (CKD) and is associated with a reduced quality of life, an increase in morbidity and mortality and higher costs. Anemia is associated with major complications for patients with CKD, including impaired cognition, sleep disturbance, and increased cardiac risk. Yearly treatment costs are estimated to more than three-fold higher in patients with anemia than in those without. Racial and ethnic minorities suffer disproportionately from progressive pre-end-stage renal disease (pre-ESRD), with more than 3 times the incidence of ESRD compared to Whites. Despite guideline recommendations, hemoglobin and iron stores are measured less frequently than recommended. A high proportion of patients in the US were identified as having no measurement of iron parameters, indicating that this is an area for quality improvement in care of patients with CKD.

This Community Practice Connection™ program provides an in-depth review of some of the key highlights from the American Society of Hematology annual meeting, held in December 2022. This unique and engaging multi-media activity is ideal for the community-based clinician and focuses on the practical aspects managing patients with CKD and anemia, putting recent clinical trial data into clinical context. The program is designed for those who did not attend the live meeting and to help reinforce learnings for those who did.

Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this activity, participants should be better able to:
Discuss the burden of anemia in patients with CKD
Review the pathophysiology of anemia in these patients
Implement guideline-based recommendations for the evaluation of CKD-associated anemia
Formulate individualized management plans for patients with anemia and CKD