Dialysis Care

Your doctor stays with you

One of the hardest parts of starting dialysis can be feeling handed off — new place, new faces, starting over with someone who doesn’t know your history. At Georgia Nephrology, that’s not how it works.

Because our physicians provide medical direction and care at more than 30 dialysis centers across metro Atlanta, the doctor who has managed your kidney disease often continues to oversee your care once dialysis begins. You keep a team that already knows your history, your goals, and you. Our work at these centers is guided by a value-based approach that keeps the focus on how you do — not only the treatment you receive.

The kidney doctor who has guided your care can keep caring for you through dialysis — a continuity that’s uncommon, and that makes a real difference.

What dialysis does

Healthy kidneys filter waste and remove extra fluid from your blood, balance minerals, and help control blood pressure. When the kidneys can no longer do enough of that work on their own — the stage called kidney failure — dialysis takes over part of it, clearing waste and fluid so you can feel better and stay well.

It’s important to know what dialysis is and isn’t. It does much of the kidneys’ filtering work, which is life-sustaining, but it isn’t a cure and doesn’t replace every kidney function. That’s why the type of dialysis, the timing, and the team around you all matter — and why planning ahead is worth so much. (To understand kidney failure itself and weigh every option, see our kidney failure guide.)

When is dialysis needed?

Dialysis is considered when the kidneys reach failure — but the decision is based on how you’re doing, not a single lab number. As kidney function (your eGFR) falls into the low range, your team watches for the signs that the body is no longer keeping up:

• Fluid building up — swelling, or shortness of breath
• Nausea, poor appetite, or unintended weight loss
• Blood pressure or potassium that’s increasingly hard to control
• Fatigue and trouble thinking clearly from waste building up

Two people with the same eGFR may start at different times depending on their symptoms and overall health. The goal is to start at the right moment for you — not too early, not in crisis — which is exactly why we talk about it well before the day arrives.

The types of dialysis, and what to expect

There’s more than one way to do dialysis, and the best choice depends on your health, your home, and how you want to live. The main paths:

For patients who want to treat at home — whether home hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis — we offer an education and training program to help you understand each option and decide whether it fits your life. Home approaches can offer more flexibility and independence, but they ask more of you day to day, so the choice is worth making carefully. Learn more about our home dialysis education and training.

Your dialysis access

Hemodialysis needs a reliable way to reach your bloodstream, called an access. The best long-term options — a fistula or graft in the arm — are created by a vascular surgeon and need time to be ready, which is one of the biggest reasons to plan ahead rather than wait for a crisis.

Our role is to manage and protect your access over time and to coordinate with the surgical team — monitoring that a fistula or graft is flowing well, catching problems like narrowing early, and managing catheters when they’re needed. Peritoneal dialysis uses a different, soft abdominal catheter instead. (See vascular access management for how we keep your access working.)

Dialysis isn’t the only path

For kidney failure, dialysis is one option — not the only one. A kidney transplant can offer the closest thing to natural kidney function, and for some people, especially those who are older or have other serious illnesses, conservative care — managing symptoms and quality of life without dialysis — is a valid and thoughtful choice. The right answer depends on your health, your goals, and what matters most to you.

We believe those conversations should be honest and unhurried, with a team that knows you. Our kidney failure guide walks through all the options, and our kidney transplant support page explains that path in more detail.

Planning ahead

When kidney disease is advancing, we talk with you early — about whether and when dialysis may be needed, which approach fits your life, and what to do to prepare, including arranging access well in advance for hemodialysis.

Starting dialysis is a big change, and it’s normal to have questions and worries. A team that knows you can make the transition far smoother — which is exactly the continuity Georgia Nephrology is built around. Planning ahead consistently leads to smoother starts and better outcomes.

Where our physicians provide dialysis care

Georgia Nephrology physicians provide medical direction and care at more than 30 dialysis centers across metro Atlanta — so when dialysis begins, you can keep seeing a kidney doctor who already knows you, at a center close to home. These centers are run by dialysis providers; our role is the medical direction and day-to-day physician care that keeps your kidney care connected.

Explore the map to find the centers near you and the Georgia Nephrology physician who provides medical direction there. To confirm coverage or get scheduled, call 404-645-7150.

Centers are operated by DaVita, Fresenius Kidney Care, and other dialysis providers; Georgia Nephrology physicians provide the medical direction and day-to-day physician care.