The goal of this clinical trial is to compare two health system-based approaches for offering kidney failure treatment options to older patients with kidney failure, specifically, to ensure patients are actively involved in a shared decision making (SDM) process covering a full range of treatment choices and have meaningful access to that full range of choices. These include standard in-center or home dialysis as well as alternative treatment plans (ATPs): active medical care without dialysis, time-limited trial of dialysis, and palliative dialysis.

Approach 1 - Educate and Engage:

Nephrology practices encourage their patients to a) participate in a kidney disease education program providing a balanced presentation of all options including ATPs, b) use evidence-based patient decision aids that include ATPs, and c) engage in SDM with staff trained in communication skills and best practices.

Approach 2 - Educate and Engage Plus Kidney Supportive Care Program:

Nephrology practices add a primary palliative care program to support patients who choose ATPs and their families. The program provides care coordination, symptom management, advance care planning, and psychosocial support to supplement usual care from their nephrologist.

To compare the two approaches, the investigators will conduct a repeated, cross-sectional stepped wedge cluster randomized trial involving 14 chronic kidney disease clinics at 7 practice organizations around the United States.

Aim 1: Compare the effectiveness of Approaches 1 and 2 in increasing proportion of patients choosing ATP and explore comparative effectiveness on patient reported outcomes of decisional conflict and shared decision-making as well as health care utilization and advance care planning.

Aim 2: Compare the patient and family experience of ATP care between Approaches 1 and 2 in terms of quality of life, services used, and end of life (EOL) experience. Aim 2a will focus on experience while patients are receiving an ATP. Aim 2b will describe the EOL experience.

Aim 3: Evaluate implementation of each approach through a mixed-methods design based on the expanded RE-AIM framework.

For Aims 1 and 2, researchers will collect information by chart review, surveys, and interviews with patients and care partners. For Aim 3, clinic administrators, clinical providers, and staff will complete pre- and post-test surveys at the beginning and end of each training.

Detailed Description

Background: Over 130,000 patients with kidney failure start dialysis annually. Older patients constitute the fastest growing segment. Those who are frail or have other serious medical conditions may not live any longer with dialysis than without it. US healthcare policy has created a powerful "dialysis default," where virtually all patients with kidney failure who do not receive a transplant are treated with a standard dialysis regimen in a dialysis center regardless of whether it will help them live any longer or better. About 20% of patients regret the decision to start dialysis, yet non-dialysis alternatives are rarely offered to them. Most patients report they were unaware they had a choice about kidney failure treatment. Many older patients with kidney disease value independence over staying alive longer. Not aware of their patients' values, most nephrologists do not offer alternatives to standard dialysis such as active medical care without dialysis (AMCWD), a time-limited trial of dialysis (TLT), and palliative dialysis.

Similarly, these options, which the investigators have collectively labeled alternative treatment plans (ATPs), are rarely included in kidney disease education (KDE) sessions for patients funded by Medicare. Other countries-notably Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom-have found that about 15% of older patients with kidney failure prefer AMCWD. These countries have created programs within their healthcare systems that integrate primary palliative care into care for patients who choose an ATP. These programs report excellent outcomes in terms of patient quality of life, care according to patient's wishes, and patient survival on average for over a year. These programs have shown it is possible to avoid complications at the end of life such as patients who wanted AMCWD being started on dialysis because their symptoms were not well managed. These programs provide an extra layer of support and prepare patients and families for when the patient's kidney failure worsens.

Shared decision-making (SDM) is recognized as the preferred approach to implementing patient-centered care and assuring that patients receive treatment that matches their goals. For over a decade, SDM has been recommended by nephrology professional societies before initiating dialysis. Despite the recommendation and preference for SDM of people with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD), it remains poorly implemented, and observers have noted a powerful dialysis default with few perceived alternatives. There is an urgent need for strategies to increase adoption and implementation of SDM in nephrology practices and elsewhere in healthcare systems where CKD patients receive care.

Objective: The goal of this clinical trial is to compare two health system-based approaches (interventions) for offering kidney failure treatment options to older patients with kidney failure. Specifically, the goal is to ensure patients with kidney failure are actively involved in a SDM process covering a full range of treatment choices and have meaningful access to that full range of choices. These include standard in-center or home dialysis as well as alternative treatment plans: active medical management without dialysis (AMCWD), time-limited trial of dialysis (TLT), and palliative dialysis.

Interventions - Approach 1: Educate and Engage:

In this approach, nephrology practices implement a bundle in which the participants will encourage their patients to a) participate in a kidney disease education program providing a balanced presentation of all options including ATPs, b) use evidence-based patient decision aids that include ATPs, and c) engage in shared decision-making with staff who have been trained in communication skills and best practices.

Interventions - Approach 2: Educate and Engage Plus Kidney Supportive Care Program:

In this approach, nephrology practices continue to implement the Educate and Engage bundle and additionally, offer a systematic program integrating primary palliative care to support patients and their families who choose any ATP. The program closely follows patients and their families on ATP with care coordination, symptom management, advance care planning, and psychosocial support to supplement usual care from their nephrologist.

Study Design: To compare the two approaches, the investigators will conduct a repeated, cross-sectional stepped wedge cluster randomized trial (SW-CRT) involving 14 chronic kidney disease clinics at 7 practice organizations around the United States. Participating clinical sites will be randomly placed into one of three sequences. Each sequence consists of four 10-month time periods during which patients are accrued and followed for study outcomes. All practices begin by implementing Approach 1 (Educate and Engage). Practices then add Approach 2 (Kidney Supportive Care Program) at the assigned period based on their sequence. To minimize contamination in the primary analysis, we will exclude patients recruited during the 4 months before each sequence moves to Approach 2. These patients will be included in a sensitivity analysis. In the 4th study period, accrual of new patients will stop during a 4-month follow-up period (to collect primary outcomes) at the end of the study. Patients will receive the intervention based on the approach (condition) in which the site is enrolled at the time of accrual. When a practice site begins implementation of Approach 2, referral to the kidney supportive care program for patients considering ATPs will become standard care at that site. All patients still alive who chose ATPs in prior periods will be offered the option of receiving care from the newly organized supportive care program.

In addition to the primary SW-CRT comparing the two intervention approaches, the investigators will do a pre-post comparison of primary outcomes, comparing clinic practices at baseline with each of the interventions.

Research Aims:

Aim 1: Compare the effectiveness of two approaches: 1) improved kidney disease education (KDE) and SDM or 2) improved KDE and SDM plus the creation of a kidney supportive care program in increasing proportion of patients choosing ATP and explore comparative effectiveness on patient reported outcomes of decisional conflict and shared decision-making as well as health care utilization and advance care planning.

Aim 2: Compare the patient and family experience of an ATP between Approach 1 and Approach 2 in terms of quality of life, services used, and end of life (EOL) experience through medical record review and interviews with a sample of patients, family members, and care partners. Aim 2a will focus on experience while patients are receiving an ATP (several months to several years). Aim 2b will describe the EOL experience.

Aim 3: Evaluate implementation of each intervention (Approaches 1 and 2) through a mixed-methods design based on the expanded RE-AIM framework, which integrates the Implementation Outcomes Framework by positing that the implementation outcomes acceptability (whether interventions are agreeable and satisfactory), appropriateness (perceived fit, relevance, and compatibility), and feasibility (extent to which interventions can be used successfully) are predictors of successful adoption, implementation, and maintenance. The ExPAND research team will cooperate with a separate tandem evaluation conducted by an independent evaluation team based at NORC.

Study Activities and Data Collection for Aim 1

• Patients 65 years of age or older will be enrolled when their eGFR drops below 30.
• Patients are invited to take a series of three surveys that include the Decision Conflict Scale and other assessments. The baseline survey (DCS-1) is taken at the time of enrollment. Follow-up surveys are conducted at Month 4 and Month 9 after enrollment.
• The research coordinator (RC) conducts a chart audit to look for advance care planning documentation and current treatment preference 4 months after enrollment.

Study Activities and Data Collection for Aim 2 - Patients who choose an AMCWD

• The RC conducts a quarterly chart audit for each patient who chooses active medical care without dialysis. The audit assesses the number of clinic visits, hospitalizations, changes in treatment plans, and unplanned dialysis starts.
• A small open cohort of AMCWD patients and their family members/care partners are invited to participate in a longitudinal series of interviews about their experience of care under an AMCWD, starting at the time of treatment decision and continuing every 4 months until the end of the study or death of the patient.
• For AMCWD patients who die, the RC conducts a chart review to assess EOL service utilization and advance care planning.
• A purposeful sample of family members/care partners of AMCWD patients are invited to participate in bereavement interviews 4 months after patient death.

Study Activities and Data Collection for Aim 3

• Clinic administrators, clinicians, and staff are invited to participate in pre-and post-test surveys at beginning and end of training.

Study Population 1: Person with CKD, cared for at participating clinic

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 65 years or older
• Most recent eGFR <30 at time of screening AND meets practice site criteria for KDE referral
• Treatment naïve (no dialysis or kidney transplant prior to enrollment)

Exclusion Criteria:

• The current decrease in eGFR is thought to be due to an acute event.
• Education and initiation of shared decision-making process are not yet indicated for the patient, (per practice protocol and/or provider's judgment).

Exclusion Criteria for surveys and interviews:

• Insufficient decision-making capacity
• Non-English and non-Spanish speaking
• Treating nephrologist/APP opts patient out (for example, if contraindicated for patient's health)

Study Population 2: Family member or care partner of patient in Study Population 1

Inclusion Criteria:

• Family member or care partner of Population 1 patient who has chosen active medical care without dialysis and consented to decisional conflict surveys
• 18+ years old
• English or Spanish speaking
• Cognitively able to participate in surveys/interviews

Study Population 3: Administrator, clinical provider, or staff at participating chronic kidney disease clinic

Inclusion Criteria:

- Currently practicing or employed at participating clinic

After completion of the study, the completely deidentified research data from this project will be deposited with the digital repository, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Data Repository (PCODR), of the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), University of Michigan to ensure that the research community has long-term access to the data. This is required by PCORI and included in consent forms.

Per PCORI guidelines

Per PCORI guidelines