Advancing CKD and Cardiovascular Risk Management Through Diagnostic Testing - Episode 2
CKD Guidelines and Adherence Across Specialties
Experts explain how uACR and eGFR testing reveals hidden CKD, links to heart risk, and guides early, patient-centered care.
CKD Guidelines and Adherence Across Specialties,’ the panelists explore the following questions:
What are the differences between the current guideline (ie, NKF, KDIGO 2025, ADA) recommendations for CKD diagnosis and staging in clinical practice?
How are these guidelines applied in practice across specialists such as primary care, nephrology, cardiology, and endocrinology?
Can you comment on guideline adherence across primary care and specialties including nephrologists, cardiologists, endocrinologists?
How can guideline adherence be elevated in clinical practice to improve CKD care?
The panelists examine how clinicians can navigate the many overlapping guidelines related to diagnosing chronic kidney disease (CKD), emphasizing that there is strong consistency rather than contradiction across professional societies. They highlight that the KDIGO framework—integrating eGFR and albuminuria (uACR) in a heat map staging system—is broadly endorsed across cardiology, endocrinology, diabetes, and hypertension guidelines and provides critical insight into both kidney and cardiovascular risk. Despite this consensus, the panel underscores a major gap between guidelines and real-world practice, noting that only a minority of eligible patients currently receive recommended CKD screening. The discussion concludes with practical strategies to improve diagnosis at scale, including clinician education on uACR, leveraging EHR and AI tools, shared accountability across specialties, and a proactive, public health–focused approach to preventing progression to end-stage kidney disease.
The next episode in this series, ‘Quality of Life Impact of Delayed CKD Diagnosis,’ features the panelists advancing their conversation on chronic kidney disease and focusing on how early detection provides a modifiable opportunity to deploy risk-mitigating therapies before patients face the profound emotional, physical, and mortality risks associated with dialysis and end-stage disease. The experts emphasize that treating CKD early not only preserves kidney function but acts as a critical multiplier for reducing systemic cardiovascular complications and improving long-term quality of life.
