Table 3.
Characteristics of the vascular access quality improvement program participants
| Characteristic | QI Program | Research Substudy |
| Patients, N | 37 | 21 |
| Age (yr) | 63 (58–74) | 67 (55–74) |
| Female | 12 (32) | 5 (24) |
| Race | ||
| Black | 1 (3) | 0 |
| White | 36 (97) | 21 (100) |
| Highest level of education completed | — | |
| Less than high school | 1 (5) | |
| High school graduate or GED | 10 (47) | |
| Some college | 5 (23) | |
| 4-Year college degree or more | 4 (20) | |
| Missing | 1 (5) | |
| Insurance type | ||
| Geisinger Health Plan | 18 (49) | 8 (38) |
| Other private or commercial plan | 6 (16) | 3 (14) |
| Medicare | 11 (30) | 8 (38) |
| Self-pay | 1 (3) | 1 (5) |
| Other | 1 (3) | 1 (5) |
| Charlson comorbidity index(37) | 7 (5,8) | 7 (5, 8) |
| Diabetes | 24 (65) | 15 (71) |
| KFRE score (%) | 40 (10–60) (n=34) | 0.4 (0.1–0.6) (n=20) |
| eGFR (ml/min per 1.73 m2) | 20 (17–22) | 19 (17–23) |
| Distance from home to nephrology clinic (miles) | 18 (13–23) | 18 (13–23) |
| Duration of nephrology care (mo) | 37 (14–93) | 66 (25–147) |
| Hospitalized in 90 d prior to program enrollment | 5 (14) | 4 (19) |
| Medical providers and clinic personnel, N | 32 | 25 |
| Age (yr) | — | 38 (35–42) (n=24) |
| Female | 14 (44) | 12 (48) |
| Race | ||
| Black | 0 | 0 |
| White | 26 (81) | 22 (88) |
| Other | 6 (19) | 3 (12) |
| Professional role | ||
| Nephrologist | 8 (25) | 8 (32) |
| Surgeon | 14 (44) | 10 (40) |
| Interventional radiologist | 6 (19) | 3 (12) |
| Nephrology clinic nurse | 2 (6) | 2 (8) |
| Case manager | 2 (6) | 2 (8) |
| Time in current role | — | |
| ≤1 yr | 7 (28) | |
| 2–4 yr | 7 (28) | |
| ≥5 yr | 11 (44) | |
| Time working with vascular access | — | |
| ≤1 yr | 2 (8) | |
| 2–4 yr | 6 (24) | |
| ≥5 yr | 17 (68) |
Participant characteristics at time of QI program enrollment. Values are presented as n (%) or median (interquartile range). QI, quality improvement; GED, general educational development; KFRE, Kidney Failure Risk Equation.