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Easy traveling on dialysis

Whether you’re heading out of town to visit loved ones, attend a business meeting or simply want to see America, the following “Travel tips for dialysis patients” and “Travel checklist” will help you in planning your trip and dialysis in a visiting city. Each day people on dialysis travel to new and exciting places and still get the lifesaving treatment they need. Just because you’re on dialysis doesn’t mean you have to stay home. With a little advanced planning you can enjoy all the benefits of traveling to all the places you want to go. 

Travel tips for dialysis patients

In-center hemodialysis patients

Planning is especially important when visiting a popular travel destination. Contact a DaVita dialysis center in the city you are visiting at least 2 weeks in advance of your visit to schedule your treatments. While it is possible to get into a dialysis center with shorter notice, you may have to drive a longer distance or take an inconvenient shift. You can also talk to your social worker or nurse, who will help you arrange for dialysis treatments when you travel. Click here to find a dialysis center online or call 1-800-244-0680 and talk to a DaVita Guest Services Specialist.

Home hemodialysis patients

Home hemodialysis patients usually dialyze in-center while on vacation since it is nearly impossible to bring along a dialysis machine. Talk with your doctor and social worker, or call DaVita at 1-800-244-0680 for help in finding a dialysis center in the city you are visiting.

Peritoneal dialysis patients

If you are a peritoneal dialysis (PD) patient, you have much greater freedom to travel because you are not limited to a dialysis center schedule. Just discuss your travel plans with your PD nurse and social worker.

Make sure you coordinate the shipment of your supplies to your hotel or vacation home. Your supply vendor representative can deliver most of the supplies you need right to your destination. You may also want to ask your home center to help you locate a PD center in the city you are visiting in case you run out of supplies or need emergency medical care while away from home.

Traveling with a wheelchair

Be sure to notify your airline that you are traveling with a manual wheelchair, an electric wheelchair or a scooter, and request "maximum assistance" at the airport.

When you arrive at the airline ticket counter, ask the attendant to "gate check" your wheelchair and obtain a luggage claim receipt for it. This will allow you to roll your wheelchair directly to the plane where you can either walk to your seat or transfer into an "aisle chair" for assistance to your seat.

You should also notify the hotel that you are traveling with a wheelchair and request a handicapped-accessible or first-floor room.

Special Diet

When making your airline reservation, be sure to ask if the airline has special meals, such as diabetic, vegetarian, low salt, low fat, etc. It is advisable to bring your own diet-appropriate food and snacks for travel delays and long trips, especially since many airlines do not provide meals and airport shops and restaurants may not have healthy food options.

Travel Checklist

You’re almost there. Just follow these guidelines and you’ll be on your way to an exciting vacation you will remember for years to come.

  1. Talk to your doctor, nurse and social worker to let them know about your plans. They will be able to give you important information for your trip. Write down any questions or concerns you may have prior to your conversation.
  2. Call your insurance carrier to find out what expenses are covered. Some private insurance groups don't allow travel or won't pay for travel outside their coverage area. Be sure to get this information before you leave on your trip. Insurance consultations are available at no charge from DaVita insurance specialists. You can request an insurance consultation online or call DaVita Guest Services at 1-800-244-0680.
  3. Locate a dialysis center close to your hotel or vacation home at least 2 weeks in advance of your visit. Call DaVita Guest Services at 1-800-244-0680.
  4. IMPORTANT NOTE:  Whether you dialyze in-center, at home or with peritoneal dialysis, you should locate a dialysis center in the city you are visiting. It is very important to know where to go in case you need help or forget something. Carry the name, address and phone number of the DaVita dialysis center in the city you are visiting with you during your trip.
  5. Pack your medical information in your carry-on luggage and bring it with you to dialysis, if your records have not already been sent to your visiting center. You, your nurse or social worker may fax your dialysis records to the visiting DaVita center ahead of time. Most dialysis centers will need information about your health, including your medical records and recent lab reports, an EKG and chest x-ray, your dialysis prescription, recent treatment records, dialysis access type, insurance information, a list of the medications you take plus your local phone number and contact information in the city you are visiting.
  6. Bring along extra medication in case you get delayed while traveling.

Letters to bring

It is helpful to have a letter from your doctor that instructs the airlines that you are a dialysis patient traveling with dialysis equipment. For home hemodialysis or self care patients who are traveling to another center, they may want to bring a letter indicating that they are trained to perform their own care.

Below are sample letters to have your physician and your nurse sign to bring with you when you travel.

A letter from your doctor

 

To whom it may concern: 

The equipment and supplies associated with NxStage System One™, including the cycler, fluid warmer, stand, IV pole, all related solutions, cartridges and all other accessory items that are being transported by_______________________ [patient’s name], care workers and family are required life-sustaining medical devices for hemodialysis, the treatment for kidney failure, also known as end stage renal disease.  

I have prescribed treatment with this equipment for ______________________ [patient’s name], and authorized him/her to perform the required treatments at his/her travel destination. Therefore, it is necessary that the equipment be transported to that destination. 

Thank you in advance for your understanding, consideration, and assistance. Please contact me at ___________________ [physician’s phone number] with any questions or concerns. 

Sincerely,

________________________________

Your physician's signature

A letter to the visiting dialysis center

 

Dear Dialysis Center: 

We are pleased that you will be providing treatments for home patient ______________________ [patient’s name] as a visiting patient to your center. 

As you know, home patients are trained to be independent in providing their own treatments. This includes either self-cannulation of their access or cannulation by their regular dialysis partner. They are taught that it is best to have the same person insert the needles every time. Home patients, who are accustomed to self care, are usually much more comfortable putting in their own needles rather than having another person do it. 

Many home patients have buttonhole accesses and need to follow the exact same track of entry each time. Some may use a special blunt needle to follow the established track. You will find a copy of this patient’s plan of care included with paperwork, which states their method of cannulation. If the patient requests, we hope that you will allow him/her (or the dialysis partner) to continue with their established plan of care for cannulation of the access. 

Some centers have asked whether a dialysis center must be certified for home training or self dialysis to allow the patient to insert their own needles or to allow their dialysis partner to insert their needles for them. The answer is that you do not need to be certified for home training or for self care to allow a trained patient to continue with cannulating their access.  

Survey instructors have made this statement during CMS surveyor meetings. Surveyors support the principles of independence and self care. If you wish to verify, you may call the surveyors in your state for confirmation. 

Best regards,

________________________________

Your nurse's signature

This site is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for medical advice from a physician. Please check with a physician if you need a diagnosis and/or for treatments as well as information regarding your specific condition. If you are experiencing urgent medical conditions, call 9-1-1.