Press Releases
- 11/15/2023
MEI Releases New, Animated Kidney Failure Treatment Options Videos
The non-profit Medical Education Institute (MEI) is pleased to release six animated 2-minute videos on Life Options. The new videos explain treatments for people with kidney failure—peritoneal dialysis, standard hemodialysis (HD), daily home HD, nocturnal HD, transplant, and comfort care—in images and easy-to-understand terms. Watch them here.
- 6/26/2023
MEI is pleased to announce the receipt of two 2023 Digital Health Awards, which honor the world’s best digital health resources:
- My Kidney Life Plan is an evidence-based decision aid for people who need to choose between dialysis, a kidney transplant, or comfort care. Users select their most important values and see how each value would be affected by each option. Results can be printed or emailed to the healthcare team to begin a shared decision-making conversation. My Kidney Life Plan won a Merit Award in the Web-based Resource/Tool category.
- Ready-Set-Home eClasses on Home Dialysis Central are Smartphone-friendly, free courses for those looking to learn about an array of subjects from Dialysis 101 and Feelings, Coping, and Relationships, to traveling on home dialysis. The classes, available in English and Spanish, received a Merit Award in the Mobile Website category.
March is National Kidney Month, and the non-profit Medical Education Institute (MEI) is pleased to announce collaboration with investigative journalist Carrie Arnold (2022 National Fellow, Center for Health Journalism) on two free online events on Thursday March 9th, in honor of World Kidney Day. Carrie has spent the last year exploring issues in dialysis for Mother Jones magazine.
- 3/1/2023
MEI to Host World Kidney Day Webinars for Patients, Dialysis Clinic Staff
March is National Kidney Month, and the non-profit Medical Education Institute (MEI) is pleased to announce collaboration with investigative journalist Carrie Arnold (2022 National Fellow, Center for Health Journalism) on two free online events on Thursday March 9th, in honor of World Kidney Day. Carrie has spent the last year exploring issues in dialysis for Mother Jones magazine.
- 2/14/2023
New Study Highlights Value of Patient-Centered Care for Kidney Failure
A recent study conducted by a team of researchers from the non-profit Medical Education Institute (MEI) sheds light on how patients with kidney failure evaluate their health throughout their treatment journeys. The results highlight the importance of considering patients’ unique health and lifestyle values when choosing a treatment option.
- 1/11/2023
MEI Celebrates 30 Years of Improving Health for People with CKD
The non-profit Medical Education Institute (MEI) is proud to announce that we are celebrating our 30th anniversary in 2023. Founded in 1993 by Edith Oberley, who was her husband’s home hemodialysis care partner for 20 years, MEI specializes in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Our core philosophy is that hope motivates—and education empowers—people to become active self-managers of their disease, who can help create their own best health outcomes.
2023
- 11/15/2023
MEI Releases New, Animated Kidney Failure Treatment Options Videos
The non-profit Medical Education Institute (MEI) is pleased to release six animated 2-minute videos on Life Options. The new videos explain treatments for people with kidney failure—peritoneal dialysis, standard hemodialysis (HD), daily home HD, nocturnal HD, transplant, and comfort care—in images and easy-to-understand terms. Watch them here. - 6/26/2023
MEI is pleased to announce the receipt of two 2023 Digital Health Awards, which honor the world’s best digital health resources:
- My Kidney Life Plan is an evidence-based decision aid for people who need to choose between dialysis, a kidney transplant, or comfort care. Users select their most important values and see how each value would be affected by each option. Results can be printed or emailed to the healthcare team to begin a shared decision-making conversation. My Kidney Life Plan won a Merit Award in the Web-based Resource/Tool category.
- Ready-Set-Home eClasses on Home Dialysis Central are Smartphone-friendly, free courses for those looking to learn about an array of subjects from Dialysis 101 and Feelings, Coping, and Relationships, to traveling on home dialysis. The classes, available in English and Spanish, received a Merit Award in the Mobile Website category.
March is National Kidney Month, and the non-profit Medical Education Institute (MEI) is pleased to announce collaboration with investigative journalist Carrie Arnold (2022 National Fellow, Center for Health Journalism) on two free online events on Thursday March 9th, in honor of World Kidney Day. Carrie has spent the last year exploring issues in dialysis for Mother Jones magazine.
- 3/1/2023
MEI to Host World Kidney Day Webinars for Patients, Dialysis Clinic Staff
March is National Kidney Month, and the non-profit Medical Education Institute (MEI) is pleased to announce collaboration with investigative journalist Carrie Arnold (2022 National Fellow, Center for Health Journalism) on two free online events on Thursday March 9th, in honor of World Kidney Day. Carrie has spent the last year exploring issues in dialysis for Mother Jones magazine. - 2/14/2023
New Study Highlights Value of Patient-Centered Care for Kidney Failure
A recent study conducted by a team of researchers from the non-profit Medical Education Institute (MEI) sheds light on how patients with kidney failure evaluate their health throughout their treatment journeys. The results highlight the importance of considering patients’ unique health and lifestyle values when choosing a treatment option.
- 1/11/2023
MEI Celebrates 30 Years of Improving Health for People with CKD
The non-profit Medical Education Institute (MEI) is proud to announce that we are celebrating our 30th anniversary in 2023. Founded in 1993 by Edith Oberley, who was her husband’s home hemodialysis care partner for 20 years, MEI specializes in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Our core philosophy is that hope motivates—and education empowers—people to become active self-managers of their disease, who can help create their own best health outcomes.
2022
- 11/16/2022
MEI Releases New Patient Education Booklet on Choosing Treatment Options for Kidney Failure
The non-profit Medical Education Institute (MEI) offers a new booklet, Choosing My Future with Kidney Failure, to help people understand how each treatment option may affect their lifestyle, so they can make a choice that is the best fit for their lives. - 9/28/2022
MEI Welcomes New Program Director
The non-profit Medical Education Institute (MEI) is pleased to welcome Jennifer Ravert, RN as its new Program Director. In this role, she will contribute her nephrology nursing expertise and passion for improving patient outcomes to a variety of current and future initiatives. - 8/18/2022
MEI Releases New Continuing Education on Endovascular AV Fistula Creation and Use
The non-profit Medical Education Institute (MEI) has released a brand-new continuing education (CE) course about Endovascular AV Fistula Creation and Use. The course is available for dialysis nurses and technicians, and counts for one credit of CE. - 7/3/2022
All New Kidney Failure Treatment Matcher Offers Values-based Decision Making for All Treatment Options
Medical Education Institute (MEI) has launched a beta version of its all-new evidence-based decision aid for end-stage kidney disease (ESKD), My Kidney Life Plan. Written at a 5th grade reading level, the tool is a complete update of the award-winning My Life, My Dialysis Choice, and now contains ALL ESKD treatment options: transplant, dialysis, and active medical management (“comfort care”). Each set of options can be toggled on and off by users, and the final version will be in English and Spanish. The 1-page summary is an Advance Directive for ESKD options choice. - 5/23/2022
New Guide: How to Talk to Patients About Home Dialysis
Talking about treatment options with patients whose kidneys have failed is a difficult conversation. Home Dialysis Central, a program of the non-profit MEI, has released a guide to help clinic staff discuss treatment options to make this challenging task easier and more effective—with four steps: - 3/28/2022
Continuing Education Available for Nurses to Support Home Dialysis Patient Travel
The non-profit Medical Education Institute (MEI) has released a continuing education (CE) opportunity for nephrology nurses to learn how to support travel planning for home dialysis patients. For $10, nurses can earn 1.00 credit of CE. - 3/17/2022
MEI Offers Dialysis Clinics a FREE Patient Fluid Management Poster
The non-profit Medical Education Institute (MEI) is launching a new, Fluid Management Poster during National Kidney Month to help educate hemodialysis patients about how to feel their best. Dialysis clinics can download the FREE PDF from the MEI store and take it to any print shop with an included permission letter. Many local and online print shops will print the poster at 24”x36” for $30 or less. - 2/28/2022
MEI Offers Nurse Webinars in March to Support Home Dialysis Travel
Nephrology nurses can learn how to support travel for PD and home HD patients in a webinar offered by the non-profit Medical Education Institute (MEI), supported by unrestricted educational grants from Fresenius Medical Care North America and NxStage Medical. - 2/02/2022
Medical Education Institute and Home Dialyzors United Announce Collaborative Response to CMS-3409-NC – Request for Information; Health and Safety Requirements for Transplant Programs, Organ Procurement Organizations, and End-Stage Renal Disease Facilities
Medical Education Institute (MEI) is excited to announce the collaborative effort of MEI and Home Dialyzors United (HDU) in response to the CMS Request for Information, focusing on End Stage Renal Disease Facilities. Together our organizations represent the voice of more than 10,000 home dialyzors and more than 50 years of collective experience in the field.
2021
- 11/01/2021
MEI Updates eGFR Calculator to Remove Race as a Variable for Estimating Kidney Function
The non-profit Medical Education Institute (MEI) has followed the recommendation of a National Kidney Foundation and American Society of Nephrology task force to remove race as a variable for estimating kidney function.
- 10/20/2021
MEI Promotes Patient Education During National Health Education Week
The non-profit Medical Education Institute (MEI) is highlighting its approach to kidney patient education during National Health Education Week (NHEW), October 18-22. Effective patient education is at the core of the MEI mission: to help people with chronic disease learn to manage and improve their health.
- 8/19/2021
MEI Releases Endovascular AV Fistula Education for Dialysis Technicians and Nurses
The non-profit Medical Education Institute (MEI) has released an educational supplement to the 6th Edition of the Core Curriculum for the Dialysis Technician. Endovascular AV Fistula Creation and Use is a free download developed by MEI with an educational grant provided by Becton Dickinson and Company (BD).
- 6/29/2021
MEI & Kidney Academy Partner to Educate Patients & Professionals
The non-profit Medical Education Institute (MEI) is honored to announce a cooperative partnership with Kidney Academy. The relationship serves to promote and share educational content for kidney professionals and the patients they serve.
- 6/01/2021
New Solo Home HD Section Debuts on Home Dialysis Central
The non-profit Medical Education Institute (MEI) recently released an in-depth resource about solo home hemodialysis on Home Dialysis Central. Solo Home HD: Taking the Plunge offers supportive information for users of the only home HD machine currently FDA-approved for solo daytime use: NxStage.
- 4/05/2021
MEI Seeks Patients to Participate in Study of Kidney Treatments
The non-profit Medical Education Institute (MEI), in cooperation with the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, is seeking patients to discuss their experiences of living with three or more treatment options for kidney failure. The Goodness of Fit study will help inform development of a measure to assess whether a dialysis choice suits a patient’s lifestyle and values.
- 3/01/2021
Home Dialysis Central Launches New Mini-Courses for Patients
In conjunction with National Kidney Month, the non-profit Medical Education Institute (MEI) is launching nine new home dialysis patient education online mini-courses. Ready-Set- Home eClasses are a new, free resource from MEI’s Home Dialysis Central program. The dynamic, mobile-friendly lessons were designed to be convenient and easy to understand, and are written to give patients knowledge and confidence about home treatment.
- 2/18/2021
MEI Partners with Docola in Winning KidneyX Covid-19 Proposal
The non-profit Medical Education Institute (MEI), which develops easy- to-read, evidence-based kidney patient education, and Docola, a social-good organization with a secure, online, HIPAA-compliant patient education platform, are partners in a winning KidneyX proposal.
- 1/26/2021
Home Dialysis Central Publishes List of ETC Participating Clinics
Madison, Wisconsin—A new KidneyViews blog post from Home Dialysis Central links to a list of clinics participating in the new ESRD Treatment Choices (ETC) Model. ETC aims to increase home dialysis and access to transplant.
- 1/14/2021
Patient Education is Key for Clinics Using New Payment Models
New CMS Payment Models that aim to reduce costs, incentivize home dialysis and transplant, and slow CKD progression are now in effect, so participating clinics will need to make education a central focus of patient care.
Educational materials from the non-profit Medical Education Institute (MEI) support values-based, patient-centered treatment choices. These materials will also help clinics meet the goals of the Advancing American Kidney Health Initiative.