Growth in home dialysis
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The 10 largest outpatient dialysis providers in the United States added more than 14,000 new patients to their census from 2018 to 2019, according to an annual survey conducted by Nephrology News & Issues. The growth resulted in 35% of new patients starting dialysis during that time period on home dialysis –15 percentage points higher than survey results from 2017 to 2018, and almost triple the 12.5% share of home patient growth among new starts from 2016 to 2017.
For the first time in more than 5 years, the annual year-to-year growth in home hemodialysis neared 1,000 patients, and more than 4,000 new peritoneal dialysis patients started dialysis, also the highest year-to-year growth during that time period (see Table).
Fresenius recently announced that, with its NxStage Medical merger, the company now serves more than 25,000 patients at home, and the program is growing at nine times the rate of its in-center dialysis offerings.
“The goals of the executive order are aligned with our existing strategy and our company’s commitment to increasing the accessibility of home therapies for our patients,” Robert Kossmann, MD, executive vice president and chief medical officer of Fresenius Medical Care, told Nephrology News & Issues.
DaVita has also made strides toward increasing its home dialysis population, with 26,100 patients on home dialysis in 2019. That was almost a 2,000-patient increase over the previous year. Since 2011, the three largest dialysis providers in the United States – Fresenius, DaVita and U.S. Renal Care – have increased the country’s home dialysis population by more than 28,000 patients. – by Mark E. Neumann
- References:
- Alexander A. Fresenius announces record growth in home dialysis, continues push for patient education and choice. Available online: www.healio.com/nephrology/home-dialysis/news/online/%7B169a94d9-6471-451b-af95-17dce903b13d%7D/fresenius-announces-record-growth-in-home-dialysis-continues-push-for-patient-education-and-choice. Accessed: Dec. 23, 2019.
- Neumann ME. Large providers continue strong growth in home dialysis. Nephrology News & Issues; 2019; 33(8):29-30.
Editor’s note: On Feb. 24, 2020, this article was revised to state that the 10 largest dialysis providers in the United States added more than 14,000 new patients between 2018-2019. The Editors regret this error.