Association Between Nephrologist Ownership of Dialysis Facilities and Clinical Outcomes.

Importance: Ownership of US dialysis facilities presents a financial conflict of interest for nephrologists, who may change their clinical practice to improve facility profitability.

Objective: To investigate the association between nephrologist ownership of freestanding dialysis facilities and clinical outcomes.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cross-sectional study was conducted using US Renal Data System data linked to a data set of freestanding nonpediatric dialysis facility owners.

Challenging Assumptions of Outcomes and Costs Comparing Peritoneal and Hemodialysis.

Objectives: Policy makers have suggested increasing peritoneal dialysis (PD) would improve end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) outcomes and reduce Medicare spending compared with hemodialysis (HD). We compared mortality, hospitalizations, and Medicare spending between PD and HD among uninsured adults with incident ESKD.

Methods: Using an instrumental variable design, we exploited a natural experiment encouraging PD among the uninsured.

Incidence, prevalence, and risk factors of infectious uveitis and scleritis in the United States: A claims-based analysis.

Background: Ocular inflammation causes significant visual morbidity in the United States, yet little is known about the epidemiology of infectious uveitis and scleritis. This study aims to evaluate the epidemiology of infectious uveitis/scleritis employing a large national medical claims database.

Methods: This was a retrospective, case-control study, employing Optum's de-identified Clinformatics® Data Mart Database, containing data from 21.