Acute kidney injury electronic alerts in primary care - findings from a large population cohort

Electronic reporting of AKI has been used to aid early AKI recognition although its relevance to CA-AKI and primary care has not been described. We described the characteristics and clinical outcomes of patients with CA-AKI, and AKI identified in primary care (PC-AKI) through AKI e-Alerts. A prospective national cohort study was undertaken to collect data on all e-alerts representing adult CA-AKI. The study utilized the biochemistry based AKI electronic (e)-alert system that is established across the Welsh National Health Service. 28.8% of the 22 723 CA-AKI e-alerts were classified as PC-AKI. Ninety-day mortality was 24.0% and lower for PC-AKI vs. non-primary care (non-PC) CA-AKI. Hospitalization was 22.3% for PC-AKI and associated with greater disease severity, higher mortality, but better renal outcomes (non-recovery: 18.1% vs. 21.6%; progression of pre-existing CKD: 40.5% vs. 58.3%). 49.1% of PC-AKI had a repeat test within 7 days, 42.5% between 7 and 90 days, and 8.4% was not repeated within 90 days. There was significantly more non-recovery (24.0% vs. 17.9%) and progression of pre-existing CKD (63.3% vs. 47.0%) in patients with late repeated measurement of renal function compared to those with early repeated measurement of renal function. The data demonstrate the clinical utility of AKI e-alerts in primary care. We recommend that a clinical review, or referral together with a repeat measurement of renal function within 7 days should be considered an appropriate response to AKI e-alerts in primary care.