ASN, NKF, CVS Kidney Care among members of campaign to improve home dialysis
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Nine leading health care organizations have launched a campaign, referred to as Innovate Kidney Care, urging CMS to update health care provider regulations to improve home dialysis, according to a press release.
The founding members of the campaign include the American Society of Nephrology, Anthem Inc., Cricket Health, CVS Kidney Care, Home Dialyzors United, Intermountain Healthcare, the National Kidney Foundation, Outset Medical Inc. and Strive Health.
Despite the benefits to home dialysis (such as reduced burden on patients and participants in their care), many barriers exist to broader implementation causing it to remain an underutilized treatment option for kidney failure in the United States, according to the release.
More specifically, the release noted the ESRD Conditions for Coverage (CfC), as currently written, “apply a one-size-fits-all set of requirements whether dialysis takes place in a clinic or at home.” Members of the campaign contend that health care providers and organizations may not offer home dialysis as an option due to the difficulty of navigating these requirements which, in turn, prevents more patient populations from accessing the benefits of the treatment.
“The dialysis industry has long been stagnant when it comes to delivering innovation to patients,” Tonya Saffer, spokesperson for Innovate Kidney Care, said in the release. “We now have new, patient-centered dialysis technologies, and health care providers who want to innovate care delivery, in order to enable more options for where and how self-dialysis can be trained and supported.”
According to the release, Innovate Kidney Care members have dedicated the campaign to improving patient experience, improving health care practitioner experience and to lowering costs of care. To do this, they suggest it is necessary to “modernize” the ESRD CfC and related guidance, and recommended the following:
- remove barriers to home dialysis training and support;
- differentiate regulations to expand home dialysis training and support, while also improving transition from in-center to home care;
- reduce administrative tasks for clinicians “so they can focus on patient outcomes, empowerment and safety”; and
- provide home dialysis training and support in a variety of health care settings.
“We can accelerate home adoption by clarifying guidance and updating outdated regulatory restrictions for both patients and providers,” Saffer said. “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 [vs.] dialyzing.”
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