Quality Measures in Acute Kidney Injury Management

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is common in clinical practice and associated with increased risk for death and major morbidity. Although some meaningful clinical guidelines were published, the quality of AKI healthcare remains suboptimal. Some AKI quality improvement methods, such as guidelines-based training programs, the referral from nephrology, and electronic data system have been found to be potentially beneficial, but further validation is required. Quality measures (QMs) for structure, process, and outcome of AKI care need to be further developed, evaluated, and implemented to ensure utmost quality of AKI care. However, many unknowns remain in this field. Some commonly used QMs like mortality are still difficult to realize in AKI quality control because of the heterogeneity in AKI practice. More evidence is needed to improve the AKI quality control system. These are challenges that will need to be addressed in the future.