The drawing in words
- Medicare-certified dialysis facilities—8 of 18 relationships: scored by Care Compare (quarterly) [R56]; feeds EQRS per-event/45-day [R16]; feeds EQRS per-event/14-day [R17]; feeds EQRS annually [R18]; feeds EQRS monthly [R19]; feeds NHSN quarterly [R20]; scored by NHSN quarterly [R61]; feeds USRDS annually [R24]. [1]
- Kidney transplant centers—1 of 18: feeds OPTN / UNOS (continuous) [R28]. [1 · 2]
- Nephrologists / medical directors—0 of 18. A silent seat: no direct line to any machine. The physician signs, the facility types. The row is genuinely empty, and that emptiness is the finding. [1]
- ESRD Networks (18 regional)—1 of 18: feeds EQRS (continuous) [R63]. [1]
- State Survey Agencies—0 of 18. A silent seat: no direct line. The surveyor reads, through other doors. The row is genuinely empty, and that emptiness is the finding.—across the six machines drawn here. The survey program’s own system (ASPEN / iQIES) is out of this plate’s scope. [1]
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services—1 of 18: is fed by NHSN (quarterly) [R32]. [1]
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—1 of 18: is reported to by NHSN (continuous) [R42]. [1]
- Medicare Administrative Contractors—1 of 18: feeds Medicare claims systems (continuous) [R65]. [1]
- U.S. Department of Health & Human Services—1 of 18: is reported to by USRDS (continuous) [R51]. [1]
- ESRD patient population—1 of 18: is scored by USRDS (annual) [R60]. [1]
- ESRD QIP—3 of 18: is fed by EQRS, by Medicare claims systems, and by NHSN (all payment-year-cycle) [R21, R23, R22]. [1]
- The machines, by density: EQRS carries 6 of the 18 relationships (the densest); NHSN 5; USRDS 3; Medicare claims 2; Care Compare 1; OPTN / UNOS 1. [1]
- System to system: Medicare claims feeds USRDS annually [R25]; OPTN / UNOS feeds USRDS annually [R29]; EQRS feeds Care Compare quarterly [R31]. [1]
- The form layer: the CMS-2728 Medical Evidence Report rides R16 and also populates the USRDS registry [R30]; the CMS-2746 Death Notification rides R17; the CMS-2744 Annual Facility Survey rides R18, and the Network reviews and finalizes 2744s inside EQRS [R63]. [1 · 3]
- The census: 11 seats x 6 machines = 66 cells. 14 are filled; 52 are genuinely empty. Two of the eleven seats never touch the machines directly. A silent station is a finding, not a gap in the data. [1]
BRACKETED NUMBERS TRACE EACH LINE TO THE SOURCE LIST BELOW · EVERY SOURCE IS HELD IN THE REFERENCES LEDGER WITH ITS LOCATOR, ITS LAST-CHECKED DATE, AND HOW IT WAS VERIFIED