Primary Care Use Tied to Lower Mortality in Patients Receiving Dialysis

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 25, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Primary care use among patients requiring hemodialysis is associated with lower mortality, according to a study published online Feb. 2 in Kidney Medicine.

Dustin Le, M.D., from Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, and colleagues evaluated the association of primary care use in the previous year and clinical outcomes among 122,496 Medicare beneficiaries receiving hemodialysis.

The researchers found that 60 percent of the cohort had used primary care services at least once in the previous year. There was an association between primary care use and lower rates of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 0.90), cardiovascular mortality (HR, 0.96), and infection mortality (HR, 0.81). There was also an association between primary care use and higher rates of first hospitalization (HR, 1.04), first emergency department/urgent care use (HR, 1.06), and subsequent primary care use (HR, 4.30).

“In conclusion, among U.S. Medicare beneficiaries already on in-center hemodialysis, receipt of at least one primary care visit in the previous year was associated with lower all-cause mortality and a small increase in health care utilization,” the authors write. “Further research around the role and mechanism of primary care use for patients requiring hemodialysis is warranted and may have implications for population health management of kidney failure requiring hemodialysis.”

Abstract/Full Text