Dialyzing Wisely - Improving the Delivery of Acute Renal Replacement Therapy to Albertans

July 20, 2026 updated by: University of Alberta
Implementation of an evidence-based and best practices acute RRT pathway aiming to decrease acute RRT program and healthcare systems costs while improving important patient-reported outcomes.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Providing acute dialysis to critically ill patients in ICU settings is resource and cost intensive. The daily costs of acute dialysis can range from $528/day for intermittent hemodialysis to $865/day for continuous renal replacement therapy. Providing acute dialysis in ICU settings requires a specialized team of nurses, educators, physicians and stakeholders to ensure its safe and effective prescription and delivery. Acute dialysis is typically delivered to some of the most acutely ill patients admitted to the ICU to support organ function and sustain life.

At present, there is not a standardized approach to the prescription and delivery of acute dialysis therapy in ICUs across Alberta. The DIALYZING WISELY program will implement a standardized approach to the delivery of best practices for acute dialysis therapy to all patients who receive treatment across ICUs in Alberta.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

9348

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Alberta
      • Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T3B 6A8
        • Alberta Children's Hospital
      • Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 2T9
        • Foothills Medical Centre
      • Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T1Y 6J4
        • Peter Lougheed Centre
      • Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2V 1P9
        • Rockyview General Hospital
      • Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T3M 1M4
        • South Health Campus
      • Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T5H 3V9
        • Royal Alexandra Hospital
      • Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2B7
        • Stollery Children'S Hospital
      • Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6L 5X8
        • Grey Nuns Community Hospital
      • Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G-2B7
        • University of Alberta Hospital
      • Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T5R 4H5
        • Misericordia Community Hospital
      • Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2B7
        • Manzankowski Alberta Heart Institute
      • Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada, T8V 4B1
        • Grande Prairie Regional Hospital
      • Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, T1J 1W5
        • Chinook Regional Hospital
      • Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, T4N 4E7
        • Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre
      • St. Albert, Alberta, Canada, T8N 6C4
        • Sturgeon Community Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Probability Sample

Study Population

All patients from 15 adult and 3 pediatric Alberta ICUs who receive acute RRT as part of their usual clinical care during the intervention period

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Patient in one of 15 adult and 3 pediatric intensive care units in Alberta Receive acute RRT as part of their usual clinical care during the intervention period

Exclusion Criteria:

  • none

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
ICU patients receiving renal replacement therapy
All patients in participating ICU's receiving CRRT or IRRT during the study period
Other: KPI reports
Quarterly
Other Names:
  • Monitoring, reporting and regular review of acute RRT KPIs
Other: Prescriber reports
Individualized prescriber reports for acute RRT initiation patterns along with targeted education to ensure that align with best evidence-based practices

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Key performance indicators (KPI)
Time Frame: Throughout intervention period up to 3 years
Changes in acute KPIs
Throughout intervention period up to 3 years
Health system costs
Time Frame: 3 years
Acute RRT and healthcare systems costs
3 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Length of renal replacement therapy
Time Frame: 3 years
Length of time patient receives RRT during their ICU stay
3 years
ICU and hospital lengths of stay
Time Frame: 3 years
Number of days patient spends in the ICU and hospital
3 years
ICU and 90 day mortality
Time Frame: 3 years
number of patients who die before ICU discharge or within 90 days of ICU stay
3 years
Rates of RRT dependence at 90 days
Time Frame: 3 years
number of patients who are receiving RRT at 90 days after ICU stay
3 years

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Alberta

Collaborators

Alberta Innovates Health Solutions

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Oleksa Rewa, MD, University of Alberta

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

January 12, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

May 31, 2026

Study Completion (Actual)

May 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 9, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 23, 2021

First Posted (Actual)

January 11, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 22, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 20, 2026

Last Verified

July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Pro00112499

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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