Navigating the Challenges of Chronic Kidney Disease

The study's purpose is to address the challenges of providing stage-appropriate chronic kidney disease (CKD) education and care by developing innovative programs using a CKD Patient Navigator system and an EHR (electronic health record)-based enhanced electronic communication system specific for a CKD patient and her/his physicians/caregivers. The investigators plan a randomized controlled trial of these innovations to examine the utility and effectiveness of these special interventions. The investigators' CKD registry aids in identifying patients for recruitment for the randomized control trial. Patients are randomized into one of four groups. The four groups are: 1) the control group using MyChart; 2) an enhanced personal health record (PHR) included in MyChart consisting of 35 websites chosen to disseminate CKD stage-specific goals of care and CKD education; 3) the patient navigator, a lay professional trained in the specifics of chronic kidney disease navigation with a focus on the needs of their patients based on the National Kidney Foundation Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative; 4) the patient navigator combined with the enhanced MyChart. The investigators hypothesize that a CKD Patient Navigator program will develop a more prepared, proactive patient-caregiver team than usual care; the enhanced PHR will produce a more informed, engaged patient than usual care; the CKD Patient Navigator arm and enhanced PHR will demonstrate a slower rate of decline in eGFR (glomerular filtration rate) than usual care. The results of this study will lay the foundation for a larger multi-center national clinical trial that will build upon the feasibility and knowledge gained from this planning grant.