Dr. Stephen Z Fadem, MD, FASN

Expert Publications

• One year later.
• The Physician Quality Reporting Initiative: a practical approach to implementing quality reporting.
• The internet as a tool for the renal community.
• Converting hemodialysis patients from intravenous paricalcitol to intravenous doxercalciferol - a dose equivalency and titration study.
• Reassessment of albumin as a nutritional marker in kidney disease.
• Satisfaction with renal replacement therapy and education: the American Association of Kidney Patients survey.
• Making measures count.
• A more cautious stance on nutritional supplementation for hypoalbuminemia is justified.
• Evaluation of corticosteroid therapy for acute renal allograft rejection.
• Severe pulmonary vascular disease in systemic lupus erythematosus.
• Severe pulmonary vascular disease in systemic lupus erythematosus.
• The renal circulation.
• The renal circulation.
• Urinary prostaglandin E excretion: effect of chronic alterations in sodium intake and inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis in the rabbit.
• Helping patients, renal staff gain access to information.

Media Releases

Get to know Nephrologist Dr. Stephen Z. Fadem, who serves patients in Houston, Texas.

Dr. Fadem is a nephrologist who has been ranked among the Top Doctors in the USA by U.S. News and World Report. He is currently serving patients at Kidney Associates in Houston, Texas. The practice covers the spectrum of nephrology care, including chronic kidney disease (CKD) screening and management, dialysis and transplantation care, hospital and office consultative nephrology, vascular access intervention and management, as well as clinical research.

Dr. Fadem is also a Clinical Professor of Nephrology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Dr. Fadem began practice in 1978 after completing a renal fellowship at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. He is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, and completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of Texas and earned his medical degree at Anderson Hospital in Houston.

Dr. Fadem a diplomate of the American Board of Quality Assurance and Utilization Review Physicians. He is also a member of the American Society of Nephrology, the International Society of Nephrology, the Renal Physicians Association, the American Association of Kidney Patients, and the National Kidney Foundation.

Dr. Fadem is active in quality management, credentialing, and peer review for his dialysis centers. He was a founding member and first President of the Gulf Coast Kidney Society. He is currently the Medical Advisory Board Chairman of the National Kidney Foundation Serving Texas.

On a national level, Dr. Fadem is former Vice-President of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Medical Advisory Board of the American Association of Kidney Patients. Additionally, he has served on the Board of Directors of the Renal Physicians Association, has participated in the Forum of ESRD Networks, and was a member of the CMS Clinical Performance Measures Committee.

Dr. Fadem is on three national RPA committees – the Government Affairs Committee, the Clinical Practice Committee, and the Health Finance Committee. He also serves on Technical Expert Panels for the National Quality Forum and the National Committee on Quality Assurance.

Dr. Fadem lectures frequently on dialysis management, preventive nephrology, vascular calcification, anemia, patient education, CKD education, information systems, computer technology, and computer security.

Dr. Fadem has been nationally recognized by receiving the American Association of Kidney Patients Nova Award and the National Kidney Foundation’s Distinguished Service Award. He has also been awarded the National Kidney Foundation’s Presidents Award, the Myron L. Jenkins Award, the Samuel Orenstein Award, and the AAKP Visionary Award. Furthermore, he has been awarded the Peter Lundin Award for his contributions to patient education. 

In 2018, Dr. Fadem was awarded the Lifetime Academic and Professional Achievement Awards by AAKP. Dr. Fadem is a Texas Super Doctor. He was ranked among the ‘Top Nephrologists in Houston’ by the Houston Chronicle, and listed as a Top Doctor by H Texas Magazine.

Nephrology is a specialty of medicine and pediatrics that concerns itself with the kidneys: including the study of normal kidney function and kidney disease, the preservation of kidney health, and the treatment of kidney disease, from diet and medication to renal replacement therapy. A nephrologist, like Dr. Fadem, is also called a kidney doctor. They commonly treat chronic kidney disease (CKD), polycystic kidney disease (PKD), acute renal failure, kidney stones, and high blood pressure. They are also educated on all aspects of kidney transplantation and dialysis.

Dr. Fadem is the founder of several websites dedicated to public service and the dissemination of clinical information, including the Nephron Information Center. The Center was among the first to use the novel technology of news aggregation to present updated news stories about kidney disease. 

In addition to his interests in medicine, Dr. Fadem is an avid computer enthusiast. Along with his wife, Joyce, and in cooperation with the Harris County Medical Society, he produced computer expositions in 1984 and 1985.

Formerly from Tulsa, Oklahoma, Dr. Fadem is married and has three children. He attributes his success to providing his patients with quality medical care. His hobbies include visiting national parks, reading, and photography. 

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