How to choose a dialysis facility
You may be at a facility three times a week for years. The star rating matters — but so do shift times, travel, treatment options and how the team communicates.
1. Read the five-star rating and the individual measures
CMS rates facilities on patient survival, hospitalisation, readmission, transfusion, emergency-department visits and transplant waitlisting. Each measure is shown as "better than expected", "as expected" or "worse than expected" on the facility page. Read the measures next to the star: a facility can be strong on survival and weaker on hospitalisation.
2. Check the treatment options you want
Facility pages record whether they offer in-centre haemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis and home haemodialysis training. If home dialysis or a flexible schedule matters to you, filter for it. A late shift can make treatment compatible with work.
3. Weigh travel and capacity
Dialysis is exhausting; a long trip each way matters. Check the number of stations (a proxy for capacity), parking, transport help and whether the facility has visitor slots. Nearby facilities are listed on each page.
4. Ask about transplant referral
Facilities record the share of patients waitlisted for a kidney transplant. Ask how the facility refers patients for transplant evaluation — a referral is the first step, and patients who are informed and referred early do better.
5. Questions to ask on a visit
- What are the shift times, and how flexible are they?
- Who will be my care team, and how consistent is it?
- How does the facility handle emergencies and hospital admissions?
- Do you offer home dialysis training, and who supports home patients?
- How do you help patients get on the transplant waitlist?
- What insurance do you accept, and who helps with billing and financial assistance?
Written and maintained by the US Dialysis Centers data team · last reviewed 2026-10-24 · sources and methodology.