| Countries-Kidney Dialysis Stats | Costs per Patient | Annual Mortality Rate | Staff to Patient Ratios |
| (for hemodialysis: most common treatment) |
(annual) |
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| Mexico | $9,000.00 | 10.7%[1] | 1 to 3[2] |
| Japan – *the Gold Standard* | $36,000.00[3] | *6.6%* | 1 to 7.8[3] |
| Italy | $50,000.00 | 10.90% | 1 to 3[4] |
| Canada | $60,000.00 | 12.00% | 1 to 3[5] |
| Australia | $85,000.00 | 11.00% | 1 to 3.5[6] |
| United States | $99,000 (Medicare pts.) [7] to $111,000 (Private Insurance pts.)[7] |
16.3%[7] | 1 to 9.9[7] (the U.S. is the only one of the above countries with more techs than nurses involved in direct care) |
| NOTES: [1] Mexico: without a National Registry, stats from Mexico can be spotty. mortality rates can vary from 5.2% at the better units to 21% at the poor units. And despite claims of universal healthcare coverage, Mexico has a 29.1% uninsured rate – so a large portion of kidney dialysis population looks to be in the poorer units. |
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| [2] Mexico: uses mostly nurses with 70% of the staff involved in direct care of patients being nurses. 30% are kidney dialysis technicians involved in direct care. |
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| [3] Japan: hemodialysis cost source below {3} Why Japan has a high nurse to patient ratio, yet low mortality: *Uses nurses with specialized education – no techs doing direct care *Technicians doing setup and breakdown of dialysis machines *Advanced equipment *Average weight is less (above results from AI – also less nurses might be why costs stay low) |
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| [4] Italy uses nurses for direct care, technicians are used for equipment maintenance and technical issues. NOT for direct care. |
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| [5] Canada uses “Mainly Registered Nurses” – some technicians for direct care | |||
| [6] Australia’s kidney staff is comprised of only 4% technicians involved in direct care – the rest are nurses |
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| [7] United States: 16.3% figure is from 2019 – before covid latest mortaltiy is for 2022, 18.8% due to lingering effects of covid – stats lag by a few years |
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| Sources: {1} Mexico Mortality Source: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6127446/ ----Mexico percentage of uninsured source: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12577427/ |
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| {2} Mexico Staff to Patient ratio:NIH- Global Dialysis Perspective: Mexico | |||
| {3} Japan: monthly costs $3000X12- Global Dialysis Perspective: Japan ---- |
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| {4} Italy Staff to Patient ratio: NIH- Global Dialysis Perspective: Italy | |||
| {5} Canada using “Mainly Registered Nurses” quote from: Global Dialysis Perspective: Canada |
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| {6} Australia: Australian Workforce Study | |||
| {7} Medicare per patient per year costs, latest: Figure 9.11a $99,369 Healthcare Expenditures for Persons with ESRD Private insurance per year costs, latest: Table 3 - $111,374 Medicare and Insurance spending after the ACA United States: 2019 16.3% mortality rate, lowest in decades- NIH USRDS (figure 6.1a, “Dialysis Patient Modality” tab) as of 2025, latest 2022 mortality 18.8%: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services Staff to Patient ratio, 9.9: PCT Staffing Nurse to Patient ratios can be up to 1:14 |
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International Kidney Dialysis Comparisons - December 2025
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