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News
Patients discharged after acute kidney injury (AKI) often leave the hospital without even knowing their diagnosis — and their outpatient doctors may be just as in the dark. A new expert consensus framework published in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases lays out clear guidance for what clinicians should communicate to each other and to patients after an AKI hospitalization, including medication changes, follow-up testing, and kidney recovery monitoring.
Patients discharged after acute kidney injury (AKI) often leave the hospital without even knowing their diagnosis — and their outpatient doctors may be equally uninformed. A new consensus-based framework, published in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases, aims to fix that by standardizing what gets communicated after an AKI hospitalization, both between care teams and directly to patients.
The guidance was developed by a 47-member multidisciplinary panel convened by the American Society of Nephrology's AKINow Recovery workgroup. Using a modified Delphi process, the panel reached consensus on key communication priorities — including documenting medication changes, describing shifts in kidney function, and flagging dialysis timelines when relevant. A downloadable AKINow Communication Guide was also released as a practical template for clinicians.
Why it matters: Poor post-AKI communication puts patients at higher risk for chronic kidney disease progression, recurrent AKI, and cardiovascular events. This framework gives clinicians a concrete roadmap to close those gaps and support better long-term outcomes.
