Nephrology · Clinical Tool · Dialysis Unit Operations / Quality

Dialysis Unit QAPI Scorecard & CQI Tracker

Enter a month of unit data and get a color-coded QAPI scorecard: every KPI red/amber/green against KDIGO/KDOQI/ISO/CDC and PSN 2024 targets, domain scores, a Unit QAPI Index (0–100), special-cause flags, and an auto-drafted PDSA charter for every red metric — printable for your CQI minutes and DOH/PhilHealth/PSN documentation.

Published: References: 8 Read time:

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How to use. Fill in whatever numbers you have for the month — every field is optional, and blanks are simply scored as "no data" and excluded. Each field shows its target so you see the bar while you type. Press Compute scorecard for the color-coded table, domain gauges, the Unit QAPI (Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement) Index, hard-red RCA (Root Cause Analysis) prompts, and a drafted PDSA (Plan–Do–Study–Act) charter for each red metric. Then Print / Save PDF the result into your CQI (Continuous Quality Improvement) minutes. All computation runs in your browser; no data is stored or transmitted. Collecting the numbers by hand first? Print the companion Monthly QAPI Data-Pack Workbook — every field below is worded to match it exactly.
When to Use

Use it once a month, before the mandated CQI meeting, to convert the month's raw data into a governed decision. It benchmarks each key performance indicator (KPI) against the Section-6 targets of the QAPI vs. CQI field manual — Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (KDOQI) adequacy, Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) anemia & chronic kidney disease–mineral and bone disorder (CKD-MBD), International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 23500 water, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) / National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) infection, and Philippine Society of Nephrology (PSN) 2024 cadences/ratios — computes domain scores and a Unit QAPI Index, flags special-cause candidates, and drafts a PDSA charter stub for every red metric. It is a decision aid for the leadership team — the Medical Director / Dialysis Clinical Head (DCH), Head Nurse, Unit Operations Manager (UOM), and quality officer — not a substitute for clinical judgment or your registry software.

How It Works — logic & scoring

Bands. Each metric is scored GREEN / AMBER / RED against its target (defaults from the field manual's Section 6; edit them in the advanced panel to localise).

Bloodstream infection (BSI) rate = (BSI events ÷ patient-months) × 100, compared to the ~0.5/100 patient-months benchmark.

Domain score = weighted % of that domain's metrics that are green (amber = half credit; blank = excluded). Unit QAPI Index = mean of the domain scores that have data. Both are shown as gauges.

Hard reds (non-negotiable) force an RCA prompt and cannot be scored away: any hepatitis B / C virus (HBV / HCV) seroconversion; water colony-forming units (CFU) ≥ 100 or endotoxin ≥ 0.25 endotoxin units per millilitre (EU/mL); an overdue chemical water analysis; chloramine over limit; any intradialytic/immediate death.

Special-cause helper. Paste a metric's last ≥ 8 monthly values and the tool applies simple run-chart rules (a shift of ≥ 6 points on one side of the median, or a trend of ≥ 5 successive rises/falls) and tells you "possible special cause — investigate" vs "within expected variation — do not tamper."

The Scorecard

Enter the month's numbers. Leave anything you don't have blank. Targets are shown beside each field.

Advanced — special-cause helper (run-chart rules)

Paste one metric's last 8+ monthly values (comma- or space-separated), oldest first. Optionally set an upper control limit.

Advanced — edit thresholds & weights

The scorecard ships with the field-manual defaults. To localise a target, edit its green/amber value below (direction is fixed per metric), then re-compute. Domain weights are equal by default; change any to re-weight the Unit QAPI Index.

Important: This scorecard is an educational aid for a dialysis unit's leadership team, not a validated accreditation instrument or a substitute for your Department of Health (DOH) / Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) / PSN documentation, registry software, or clinical judgment. Default thresholds are drawn from KDOQI/KDIGO/ISO/CDC and the PSN 2024 hemodialysis (HD) Guidelines; confirm each against your current governing documents and localise where a source defers. Interpret every red/amber flag in the full clinical and operational context, and case-mix-adjust outcome metrics before comparing months or units. All computation runs in your browser; no data is stored or transmitted.

Where the Numbers Come From

Default targets and cadences are drawn from the same core sources as the parent field manual: KDOQI 2015 hemodialysis adequacy (single-pool Kt/V (spKt/V) target 1.4, min 1.2; urea reduction ratio (URR) ≥ 65%); KDIGO anemia (hemoglobin (Hb) ~10–11.5 g/dL, transferrin saturation (TSAT) / ferritin-guided iron) and CKD-MBD (individualised calcium / phosphate / parathyroid hormone (PTH)); ISO 23500 / Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) water quality (< 100 CFU/mL, < 0.25 EU/mL, action levels 50 CFU/mL and 0.125 EU/mL); the CDC/NHSN dialysis-event method and its ~0.64 per 100 patient-months pooled BSI benchmark (2.16 for catheters); the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) QAPI five-element framework; and the PSN 2024 HD Guidelines for the Philippine metric list, monthly/six-monthly water cadences, and staffing ratios. Full citations are in the References block, and every target is explained in the QAPI vs. CQI field manual, Section 6.

References 8 sources
  1. National Kidney Foundation (NKF). (2015). KDOQI clinical practice guideline for hemodialysis adequacy: 2015 update. American Journal of Kidney Diseases, 66(5), 884–930. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.ajkd.2015.07.015
  2. Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) Anemia Work Group. (2012). KDIGO clinical practice guideline for anemia in chronic kidney disease. Kidney International Supplements, 2(4), 279–335. https://doi.org/10.1038/kisup.2012.37
  3. Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) CKD-MBD Update Work Group. (2017). KDIGO 2017 clinical practice guideline update for the diagnosis, evaluation, prevention, and treatment of chronic kidney disease–mineral and bone disorder (CKD-MBD). Kidney International Supplements, 7(1), 1–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.kisu.2017.04.001
  4. International Organization for Standardization (ISO). (2019). ISO 23500-1:2019 — Preparation and quality management of fluids for haemodialysis and related therapies, Part 1: General requirements. ISO. https://www.iso.org/standard/67614.html
  5. Nguyen, D. B., Shugart, A., Lines, C., Shah, A. B., Edwards, J., Pollock, D., Sievert, D., & Patel, P. R. (2017). National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) dialysis event surveillance report for 2014. Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, 12(7), 1139–1146. https://doi.org/10.2215/CJN.11411116
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). (2013). QAPI: The five elements — design and scope, governance and leadership, feedback and data systems, performance improvement projects, and systematic analysis and action. CMS. https://www.cms.gov/medicare/provider-enrollment-and-certification/qapi/downloads/qapifiveelements.pdf
  7. Philippine Society of Nephrology (PSN). (2024). Guidelines for nephrologists in the operation of hemodialysis clinics in the Philippines (3rd ed.). Philippine Society of Nephrology. https://www.psn.org.ph/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/HD-Guidelines-for-Nephrologists-Final-Revision-3.14.24.pdf
  8. McQuillan, R. F., Silver, S. A., Harel, Z., Weizman, A., Thomas, A., Bell, C., Chertow, G. M., Chan, C. T., & Nesrallah, G. (2016). How to measure and interpret quality improvement data. Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, 11(5), 908–914. https://doi.org/10.2215/CJN.11511015
Dr. William Gregory M. Rivero, MD

William Gregory Rivero, MD, FPCP, DPSN

Internal Medicine · Nephrology · Nutrition · Philippines · PRC 0105184

Educational quality-management aid. Not a validated accreditation instrument. Confirm all thresholds against your current DOH/PhilHealth/PSN documents; no data leaves your browser.

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