[REIN: a tool at the service of health authorities]

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the REIN (French Renal Epidemiology and Information Network), a summary work on the contributions of the national French ESKD register was carried out. On the issue of its link with health authorities, the following key messages were retained. One of the purposes of REIN is to contribute to a better understanding about patient management and its evolution, and thus to be called upon to develop health strategies aimed at improving the prevention and treatment of chronic renal failure. Indeed, the planning of the supply and the evaluation of the treatment are important issues for the public health decision-makers who must have the relevant indicators and tools to help them in their decision-making and follow-up processes. REIN is clearly identified as a source of information by institutional partners, as is shown by the various requests made by the Regional health agencies (ARS), the French National Authority for Health (HAS) and the General Directorate for Healthcare Services (DGOS), as well as other health authorities. It allows estimating the needs of the population within the framework of decree nos. 2002-1197 and 2002-1198 of September 2002 relating to the treatment of chronic renal failure by renal dialysis. The recent possibility of probabilistic matching of REIN data with the data from the National Healthcare Data System (SNDS) for a pseudonymised individual allows for more detailed studies on the different care pathways, as well as evaluating the impact of the different actions or experiments that are set up, with the help of detailed clinical information from the REIN and, among other things, the expenses reimbursed by the Health Insurance.