| [ Summary ] |
In 1995, the percentage of in-home hemodialysis patients fell to 0.9, in the United States, compared to a rate of 6% in 1986. Recently, however, home hemodialysis has been given little attention by the world dialysis society. The main reason it has become a matter of concern is the increased number of dialysis patients, especially the extremely high number of aged dialysis patients. Furthermore, daily home hemodialysis has taken on a new importance because of improvements in patients' general condition. In Washington State a new assistance system has been developed and applied to home hemodialysis patients. It has been implemented not only active dialysis patients but also aged and/or blind patients have also become able to treat themselves, using home hemodialysis. An assistant fee for one dialysis session is about $38, and the fee is paid by Medicare or private insurance. We should learn from the US home hemodialysis system in order to establish the Japanese original system. |