FAQ Dialysis Access Center

We are a dialysis access consulting company and do not provide patient advice. But if you search the web, at Vascular Web provided by Society for Vascular Surgery, there is some basic information that you can scan. NIDDK also has some information in this regard. This list is by no means meant to be complete and is simply a guide of somewhere to start.

We offer the leadership needed to establish your own local access center, one that may transition to the Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) model when CMS permits these services to be performed in an ASC. This includes the training for the Medical Director and specialized allied health professionals. You will receive a policy and procedure manual, the information management software and organizational design guidelines. You will also receive assistance with billing administration.

To further discuss and find out how DAC, Inc can enhance your practice, please E-mail or call Dr. Khakmahd, Medical Director at (510) 251-1002.

See information regarding the training program. Please E-mail or call Dr. Khakmahd, Medical Director at (510) 251-1002.

Our comprehensive training program, taught by recognized pioneers in dialysis access care, trains you and your staff to operate your own local access care center. We are a recognized center of excellence in dialysis access with experience in more than 17,000 cases over the last 17 years. You and your staff will undergo a comprehensive training with hands-on patient care, including a minimum of 100 cases, including conscious sedation, thrombolysis, venogram, angioplasty, and cuffed catheter placement, at least half of which will involve you as the primary operator. You will also learn data evaluation, management of information systems, and a unique quality assurance program that emphasizes outcome monitoring, procedural complications and physician data analysis.

Have a signed agreement with DAC, Inc., Board certified in Internal Medicine and Nephrology. A valid California medical license. A California permit and license as an X-ray supervisor and operator. Level IV Privileges at your own hospital. Cannulation of at least twenty functioning accesses prior to initiation of the program is recommended. Study material for X-ray supervisor and operator permit exam is available hereand here.

You can go to Radiologic Health Branch section of Department of Health services for state of California, and download the application form DHS 8230. Fill this out and check the box Fluoroscopy Supervisor and Operator Permit. Include with this application: Your nonrefundable $127.00 application fee payment in the form of a check or money order made payable to "CDHS-RHB" (California Department of Health Services – Radiologic Health Branch) A separate payment for testing fees in the amount of $250 for one permit examination in the form of a cashier’s check or money order, payable to the "American Registry of Radiologic Technologists." (Personal checks will not be accepted.) Evidence that you have one of the following valid California healing arts licenses: Physician and Surgeon, Osteopathic Physician and Surgeon. Return this form along with payments and a copy of your California healing arts licenses to: Billing and Cashiering Unit California Department of Health Services Radiologic Health Branch, MS 7610, P.O. Box 997414, Sacramento, CA 95899-7414 After your application is accepted, the ARRT will send you instructions for scheduling your test. You will have 180 days after application is accepted to pass the test. Download the study syllabus on Radiography Radiation Protection, as well as Fluoroscopy Radiation protection, and study their contents. Read this notice of examination. Take the test at a Pearson Vue test center. Thirty days after taking the test, go to the Name Search Tool. Your name will be listed there if you passed. You will receive your certificate/permit within 4-6 weeks after the exam. If you do not passed, you will not be listed in our Name Search Tool, but a notice will be mailed to you. You may retake the exam.

Starting your own local outpatient access care center allows you to earn revenues for interventional procedures that were previously performed in an inpatient setting.

A dedicated DAC eliminates the need for patients to leave the care of a nephrologist in search of an interventional radiologist or vascular surgeon. Gone are the "musical chairs" required to schedule patients around a specialist's or hospital's calendar, the problem that frustrates both the nephrologist and the patient. Unlike the services provided by an interventional radiologist or a surgeon, the key advantage of a local access care center is its sole dedication to dialysis access care, by nephrologists. Often times same day services, including access care and dialysis, avoids long and unnecessary delays. Patients enjoy rapid delivery of care.

We no longer provide training of Nephrology Fellows at the Dialysis Access Center. Training is exclusively provided to groups with a negotiated contract. Please visit ASDIN website for possible alternative training programs.