Telemedically Supported Case Management of Living-Donor Renal Transplant Recipients to Optimize Routine...

Area of Science:

• Nephrology
• Transplant Medicine
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Optimizing post-transplant care is crucial for improving long-term outcomes in solid organ transplantation.
• Evidence-based aftercare is essential alongside advanced surgical techniques.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the effectiveness of telemedically supported case management compared to standard aftercare in living-donor renal transplant recipients.
• To evaluate the impact of an innovative aftercare model on patient adherence, acute care utilization, and quality of life during the first posttransplant year.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial involving 46 living-donor renal transplant recipients.
• The intervention group received chronic care case management, acute care case management, and a telemedical team support.
• The control group received standard aftercare.

Main Results:

• The telemedically supported group showed a significant reduction in unplanned inpatient acute care and associated costs.
• Nonadherence prevalence was substantially lower in the intervention group (17.4%) compared to the standard care group (56.5%) (p = 0.013).
• The intervention group successfully met targets for adherence, disease-specific quality of life, and return to employment.

Conclusions:

• Telemedically supported case management is an effective model for optimizing post-transplant aftercare in renal transplant recipients.
• This approach leads to improved patient adherence, reduced acute care episodes, and better overall outcomes.
• Further multicenter studies are warranted to validate these findings and expand the application of this model.