Introduction
KIDNEY FAILURE
Dialysis performed at home can offer a sense of control, independence, self-efficacy, and flexibility, factors that are important to many patients who require maintenance dialysis.Although ETC applies only to Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) beneficiaries, it has the potential to affect all patients starting treatment for kidney failure. Clinicians may implement changes in practice, such as improved dialysis modality education, care coordination, or expanded access to peritoneal catheter placement, that are not restricted to patients with FFS coverage. To assess the hypothesis that ETC is associated with the care of all patients starting dialysis in its first 18 months, we examined changes in the use of home dialysis among incident dialysis patients in the US from January 1, 2016, to June 30, 2022, overall and according to HRR ETC assignment.