Dialysis in the 21st century.

Dialysis has moved from a halfway technology to a full contributor to the therapeutic armamentarium of the nephrologist who treats end-stage renal failure. The scientific future for this therapy is bright and limited only by cost pressure in the changing health care environment of today in North America. For the awesome potential of tomorrow's science to arrive at the bedside, there will have to be a collaborative interaction between industry, the nephrologist researcher, and third-party payers, both private and federal. This consortium must direct therapeutic innovation to ensure that new products serve quality as well as quantity of life, so that society's investment in this new science will show a satisfactory return in reduced hospitalization costs and increased patient productivity. The innovations described were selected to meet this "pharmacoeconomic" requirement.