Kidney Care Checklist: A Quality Improvement Initiative for Primary Practice

Background: Primary-care providers(PCPs) are powerful partners for positive changes to protect kidney function and slow early CKD progression since they encounter patients long before the nephrologists.However,data on CKD detection and management by PCPs is low.Some barriers include awareness and confidence over management steps,conversation barriers, and coding appropriately for adequate compensation.We present data assessing the ability of checklists to address this,along with increasing confidence in managing early CKD Methods: A statewide QI initiative engaged PCPs using a custom toolkit.Providers completed a pre-survey assessing CKD knowledge,care practices,and confidence.They then received access to an accredited online CME platform with video module and 10-step CKD checklist including patient talking points,key management steps,and ICD-10 codes.The checklist was available as printout or EMR-integrated reminder.Post-surveys were administered immediately and again at 6 months to assess knowledge retention and impact on practice Results: Of the 93 PCPs pre-intervention,only 6.4% felt extremely prepared to diagnose CKD,and fewer than 12% followed KDIGO targets for blood pressure,anemia,or lipids.Post-intervention,the proportion of providers feeling extremely prepared to diagnose CKD rose to 22.9%,and those prepared to manage CKD patients increased from 3.2% to 25.6%.At 6 months,37.5% of participants reported changes in their CKD care practices.Checklists and handout tools were favorably rated and used by over 40% of participants who encounter CKD patients Conclusion: A brief,structured intervention with practical tools led to significant improvements in PCP knowledge and confidence in CKD care.Long-term impact may be enhanced through continued support,EMR integration,and system-level reinforcement Funding: Private Foundation Support