Quality In = Quality Out Lighting the Path to Kidney Care Excellence

Challenges persist in understanding how to best capture data elements from electronic medical records (EMR) to utilize in the Quality Assessment Performance Improvement (QAPI) process. The essential component needed is understqnding where in the EMR to correctly enter the desired information so that the tools within the medical record system can extract that information allowing for accurate data to perform a trend analysis identifying where improvement and action planning is indicated. This presentation will uncover the value of monitoring the quality of documentation (Quality In) so the facility leader, medical director and IDT is assured that the clinical data in the QAPI review is correct (Quality Out). As a result, the IDTs ability to establish baselines, identify trends, identify barriers and initiate prompt corrective action to address facility-wide goals is improved.

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Presented September 2025

Karen Kelley, MHA, BSN, RN, CNN

Karen Kelley is a registered nurse with 40 years of nursing experience including the last 25 specifically in the dialysis and nephrology communities. The bulk of her nephrology experience was as the dialysis administrator for a small, rural, hospital-based dialysis facility in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. She holds a master’s degree in healthcare administration, is a Certified Nephrology Nurse, a member of the American Nephrology Nurse Association and the Renal Healthcare Association. Karen has been an active volunteer for the RHA since 2007, bringing her leadership and expertise to each endeavor to the RHA committees, and is also a past president of the association.

Karen is the primary author of the Quality Section contained in the RHA’s Core Curriculum for Renal Healthcare Administrators, and a co-contributor on various other sections. In addition, she participated in the editorial process of the Core Curriculum and now serves on the team developing the certification exam.

Karen’s passion for quality, patient safety, and improvement processes have been a beneficial contribution to the nephrology community. Today she shares with us the importance of quality documentation in contributing to valuable data output.