Information technology and acute dialysis.

The careful application of information technology to the field of acute dialysis may result in both a better understanding of the disease as well as an improvement in patient outcomes. Often these applications increase costs and complexity with little change in understanding or quality of care. To avoid this common trap, a targeted assessment of needs and possible solutions is mandatory. Our group was assembled to provide balanced perspectives and recommendations that address how information technology should be assessed and applied to acute dialysis therapy, with the intent to increase the understanding of the current practice and to improve patient care. To achieve these goals, five areas of focus were identified: patient safety, current practice pattern assessment, practice variation, patient assessment, and dialysis machine technology. To facilitate the assessment, we formulated five specific questions and developed answers based on the available literature and group consensus.