Nephrologists drive transformative outcomes
through government's coordinated care program serving high-need
patients
DENVER, Oct. 22,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- DaVita today announced
performance year one clinical outcomes achieved in partnership with
nearly 1,300 nephrologists across the U.S. through value-based care
arrangements designed to enhance the lives of Medicare patients
with kidney disease. As the broader health care community
continues to explore value-based care arrangements to improve
health outcomes in the U.S., DaVita commends the efforts from
likeminded specialty care providers leading the movement.
These efforts have helped lead the kidney care community through
scaled participation and investment in these programs, which are
part of the Comprehensive Kidney Care Contracting (CKCC) option
within the government's voluntary Kidney Care Choices (KCC) model —
a value-based care demonstration that began on Jan. 1, 2022, as the largest government model for
kidney care.
"This program relies on the understanding that kidney care in
the U.S. has been fragmented and that a system that better
coordinates these care silos is better for our patients. When our
patients do better, they can live a better life and cost the system
less money. Those savings can be wrapped around to provide even
better care — and the cycle continues," said Dr. Gregory Spin,
clinical leader for the Northern California Kidney Care Choices
group and founding partner of Summit Nephrology. "We have worked
hard to share best practices across our program, and DaVita has
amplified that process by bringing learnings from other
participants."
Together with participating nephrologists, DaVita launched 11
value-based care arrangements in 2022 and has since doubled that
footprint to 22 Kidney Contracting Entities (KCEs). An evaluation
now available for the first performance year (PY1)
demonstrates that these value-based care arrangements result in
better patient outcomes, which, over time, should lead to
decreasing cost expenditures. This includes engaging patients in
their care earlier and supporting access to kidney transplants for
patients managing their kidney health.
Physicians and providers in the CKCC program improved outcomes
for patients through collective quality metrics, with a 16%
industry increase in optimal start rates for kidney patients
transitioning to dialysis. Reducing unplanned starts leads to more
optimal outcomes for patients, with care teams better coordinating
their kidney and non-kidney care needs as well as improving
interventions to help keep them healthy and out of the hospital,
while also reducing high health care costs.
"Our focus at the launch of the program was to provide robust
support for our nephrology partners, and we're encouraged by the
current momentum. Though scaled transformation takes time, we
continue to trend positively into the third year of the program,"
said Dr. Amy Schuerman-Gen, chief medical officer for DaVita
Integrated Kidney Care (DaVita IKC). "Our vision for care
innovation is taking shape, with CKCC laying a vital foundation for
lasting change. The model's emphasis on care coordination and
patient engagement has already led to encouraging health outcomes,
and we're optimistic about the program's potential for continued
success."
DaVita and its nephrologist partners have already seen
significant progress over the course of the CKCC program and expect
the impact on outcomes and cost savings will continue to improve.
Achievements include:
- Embedding care team members in 68% of nephrology practices,
providing care to shared patients directly at the site of
care.
- Overseeing approximately 31,000 patients across dialysis
centers of multiple providers, remotely, and in nephrologist
offices.
- Enabling 2.4x more DaVita patients to have a planned start on
home treatment through patient education, care management and
transition support.
- Screening 67% of patients for depression remission with a
baseline PHQ-9 across 11 KCEs, supporting holistic care of both
physical and mental health.
- Increasing patient activation by 13%, indicating higher patient
engagement across patient populations — inclusive of people with
chronic kidney disease (CKD) and people with end-stage kidney
disease (ESKD) who do not treat at DaVita.
Care coordination is fueled in part by DaVita's tech-enabled
platform, with more than half of participants either leveraging
DaVita's co-designed EHR with Epic or allowing DaVita access to
another platform. This foundation helps to meet patients earlier
with crucial identification and education to help slow progression
to kidney failure and avoid dialysis. From PY1 to current
year-to-date, DaVita has increased CKD education by 39% via Kidney
Smart®, an award-winning, interactive community and virtual
education program, for patients aligned with CKCC practices.
From coast to coast, participation in CKCC has allowed for a
broad evaluation of the positive impact value-based care at scale
can have for kidney patients.
"As we continue in the CKCC demonstration, I look forward to
working collaboratively with our DaVita IKC partners and others to
tackle difficult challenges we face in patient-centered care," said
Dr. Alec Otteman of Associated
Nephrology Consultants in St. Paul,
MN. "We continue to work through how to best support
patients to prevent hospitalizations and readmissions, and our
DaVita IKC partners can create wrap-around support for medication
reconciliation and transition of care post-hospitalization."
For more information about DaVita IKC's programs and results,
visit DaVita.com/IKC
About DaVita Inc.
DaVita (NYSE: DVA) is a health care provider focused on
transforming care delivery to improve quality of life for patients
globally. As a comprehensive kidney care provider, DaVita has been
a leader in clinical quality and innovation for more than 20 years.
DaVita cares for patients at every stage and setting along their
kidney health journey—from slowing the progression of kidney
disease to helping to support transplantation, from acute hospital
care to dialysis at home. As of June 30, 2024, DaVita served
approximately 265,100 patients at 3,124 outpatient dialysis
centers, of which 2,672 centers were located
in the United States and 452 centers were located in 13
other countries worldwide. DaVita has reduced hospitalizations,
improved mortality, and worked collaboratively to propel the kidney
care industry to adopt an equitable and high-quality standard of
care for all patients, everywhere. To learn more,
visit DaVita.com/About.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking
statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. These
forward-looking statements are based on management's current
expectations. Various important factors could cause actual results
to differ materially from these forward-looking statements,
including the risks identified in our U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission filings. DaVita disclaims any obligation to update any
forward-looking statement contained in this press release, except
as may be otherwise required by law.
The statements contained in this document are solely those of
the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of
CMS. The authors assume responsibility for the accuracy and
completeness of the information contained in this document.
Media Contact:
DaVita Newsroom
newsroom@davita.com
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SOURCE DaVita