Intermountain Healthcare Joins Innovate Kidney Care Campaign to Expand Access to Home Dialysis

Today, Intermountain Healthcare joined with eight other leading healthcare organizations to launch Innovate Kidney Care, a new campaign to improve patient options for receiving home dialysis training and support. Founding members include Intermountain Healthcare, the American Society of Nephrology (ASN), Anthem, Inc., Cricket Health, CVS Kidney Care, Home Dialyzors United (HDU),  the National Kidney Foundation (NKF), Outset Medical, Inc., and Strive Health.

Traditional in-clinic dialysis imposes substantial burdens on patients with kidney failure and can be both physically and emotionally demanding for them and their care partners. Safe and effective options exist for patients facing kidney failure to self-dialyze at home, and these tools offer numerous benefits compared to in-clinic dialysis. However, these home options are underutilized in the United States for a variety of reasons, some of which are due to regulations developed decades ago before home dialysis was a widely available option. For example, the existing Conditions for Coverage apply a one-size-fits-all set of requirements whether dialysis takes place in a clinic or at home. Navigating these requirements can be complex for providers and hinder organizations from offering self-dialysis options, leaving large patient populations without access to these benefits.

Innovate Kidney Care’s diverse group of industry organizations aims to advocate for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to modernize the End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Conditions for Coverage and related guidance in order to achieve the quadruple aim of better patient outcomes, improved patient experience, improved health care practitioner experience and lower costs of care.

• Remove barriers to home dialysis training and support so more patients can benefit from the flexibility and personalization of treatment that home dialysis can provide.
• Differentiate regulations to expand home dialysis training and support, and improve patients’ transitions of care.
• Alleviate clinician burden of administrative tasks so they can focus on patient outcomes, empowerment, and safety.
• Allow for home dialysis training and support to be delivered in a variety of healthcare settings.

“The dialysis industry has long been stagnant when it comes to delivering innovation to patients,” said Tonya Saffer, spokesperson for Innovate Kidney Care. “We now have new, patient-centered dialysis technologies, and healthcare providers who want to innovate care delivery, in order to enable more options for where and how self-dialysis can be trained and supported. We can accelerate home adoption by clarifying guidance and updating outdated regulatory restrictions for both patients and providers. Innovate Kidney Care’s goal is to advocate for modernizing the Conditions for Coverage, empowering patients – regardless of race, ethnicity, or income – to have a choice in adopting home dialysis and reaping the benefits of having more time for living versus dialyzing.”

“Intermountain Healthcare is committed to providing the best care possible to patients, whenever and wherever they are,” said Ray Morales, Assistant Vice President, Intermountain Healthcare Kidney Services. Through innovation and adaptation of policy, patients can experience improved care, more convenient delivery, all the while lowering costs. This campaign is aligned with the vision of Intermountain’s Kidney Services which is to help patients and their caregivers with kidney disease live the healthiest lives possible by ensuring they receive a cutting-edge, fully-integrated, and coordinated experience throughout the continuum of their care.”

Follow updates at www.innovatekidneycare.com, #InnovateKidney on Twitter, or https://intermountainhealthcare.org/services/kidney-care.