AS part of its 38th founding anniversary, the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI), together with Baxter Healthcare Philippines Inc. (BHPI), inaugurated on Tuesday a new building that offers a comprehensive full-service facility for peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients.
Called the NKTI-Baxter Peritoneal Dialysis Center of Excellence, the joint venture is an innovative public-private partnership program realized at the onset of a global pandemic when safe and convenient therapy is much needed by people with chronic kidney disease.
“PD first remains the policy of NKTI. We want to put more patients on this type of dialysis that is affordable, accessible and financially sustainable by the government,” Dr. Romina Angangco-Danguilan, deputy executive director for medical education, training, and research at NKTI, told the BusinessMirror in an e-mail interview. “This is another milestone for the NKTI to serve our more than 800 patients on PD.”
Located at the NKTI grounds, the 1,000-square-meter building houses a two-story warehouse that has a capacity to accommodate 60,000 bags of PD solutions and accessories for more than 700 patients per month.
Such storage area, according to her, is of big help since the bulk orders for these medical supplies consume a lot of the hospital’s warehouse space.
Patients who are trained to perform the dialysis themselves in the comfort and convenience of their own homes, come to NKTI every two weeks to pick up 42 PD solutions and caps for their treatment.
“[So] they have this new building housing adequate dispensing areas, and soon to open are clinical areas for PD training enhancement and more,” Dr. Danguilan said.
The complex features a queuing system, making the process of claiming these life-saving fluids more efficient for patients on continuous ambulatory PD.
With this latest innovation, they just need to key in the purpose for claiming, whether for the PhilHealth’s PD First Z Benefit Package amounting to P270,000 per year or using financial assistance from the Department of Health or other agencies.
Once their names are called as reflected in the monitors above the counters, they shall proceed to the different steps they require—from assessment, charging, payment and releasing of their PD solutions for home use.
This system has also incorporated scheduling of the patients’ next claim, including an SMS reminder. What’s more, it integrates clinic visits which would also help facilitate their scheduled check up for the day.
“We use new technology to ensure that we can serve our PD patients better,” said Dr. Danguilan.
The NKTI-Baxter PD Center of Excellence is not only convenient for the patients, but also safe given the strict health protocols in place amid the pandemic, she added.
In fact, it operates with a routine triage area to assess Covid-19 risk, provision of alcohol hand sanitizers, and regular body temperature checks before entering the building.
Proper social distancing is likewise required and counters for patient transactions are separated by acrylic dividers lowering the risk of contamination. What’s more, all surfaces are wiped and ultraviolet light is applied for 30 minutes.
“[So] there is less exposure [to Covid-19 for patients here] to other people, including healthcare workers,” Dr. Danguilan stressed.
3 comments
Thanks again Roderick Abad for helping NKTI on this momentous event
welcome and congrats 🙂
Good pm. Wants to confirm the office Baxter Heath Care is at National Kidney? Can i buy one 1 unit of peritonial dialysis portable. What papers need to show in entering the building. We want to visit this tuesday, can we have an appointment or go directly to the sales office? Since we are from Tarlac, we wants i to have an appointment. Thanks