International Variations and Trends in Home Hemodialysis

Home hemodialysis, once a valid, viable dialysis choice, faded as facility-based care was preferentially funded and supported through the 1970s and 1980s. It was simply more comfortable for providers, physicians, and nurses to capture dialysis patients through clinic schedules and clinical protocols. Home patients were unpredictable, out of sight and out of control, trouble, and best avoided. This was so except in Australia and New Zealand where funding and support remained strong for what was seen there as an effective, outcome-rich, and cost-effective modality. The renaissance of home hemodialysis began in Canada when home-based nocturnal dialysis emerged in the 1990s. Home patients soon appreciated the self-determination and re-employment opportunities that overnight dialysis delivered. This article explores the origins, the near demise, the foundations of renewal, and the now-expanding potential of home and nocturnal hemodialysis in regions as diverse as North America, Australia and New Zealand, South East Asia, the United Kingdom, and Finland. Home dialysis fed by cost containment, outcome success, patient acceptance, and new smart equipment has emerged as a bright new modality option. Trainee nephrologists would be wise to take more notice as this near ghost of the past forges an exciting future.