The chronic kidney disease initiative.

The Chronic Kidney Disease Initiative was implemented at the request of the Council of American Kidney Societies to formulate a plan of action to solve many of the perceived problems associated with identifying, caring for, and attaining the best outcomes for patients with chronic kidney disease. With the assistance of a community of stakeholders and a formalized workshop and process, the Chronic Kidney Disease Initiative identified the barriers to solving this complicated problem. Barriers were given hierarchical significance, and solutions and action plans to the barriers were formulated. This article describes the process, the barriers encountered, and the solutions required to fully identify and manage this large and complicated population of patients.