DENVER, Oct. 24, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- DaVita Kidney
Care, a division of DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA), the leading independent
provider of integrated health and kidney care services in
the United States, today announced
that since the inception of the program and for the third year in a
row, it has been recognized as the clinical leader in the Centers
for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Five-Star Quality Rating
System. According to the latest government ratings, DaVita Kidney Care outperformed the rest of the
industry.
"Transparency and accountability are working to raise the bar,"
said Javier Rodriguez, president and
CEO for DaVita Kidney Care. "We
continue to be pleased that all providers are measured against the
same set of metrics and we know they will drive the kidney
community to higher quality, which is good for all patients."
Within the CMS' Five-Star Quality Rating System, each dialysis
center that provides in-center hemodialysis (excluding pediatric
only facilities) receives a rating between one and five based on
clinical performance and patient outcomes. This year, centers are
given a star rating according to a threshold set by calculating
seven quality measures. Ratings can be found on the Dialysis
Facility Compare website.
DaVita outperformed the rest of the industry with the highest
percentage of four- and five-star centers and lowest percentage of
one- and two-star centers in the country.
"Most of all, we want to thank our clinical professionals for
their unwavering commitment to excellence in caring for our
patients," said Allen R. Nissenson,
MD, FACP, chief medical officer for DaVita
Kidney Care. "We know that higher star ratings correlate
with lower hospitalization rates and better patient survival, which
means that our patients get more time to spend doing the things
they enjoy and are important to them including more special
moments with their families and friends."
In 2013, DaVita Kidney Care
developed the Patient-Focused Quality Pyramid to help provide
direction for improving patient care and outcomes. The Pyramid
focuses on the fundamentals of dialysis care – dialysis access,
dialysis adequacy, nutrition, anemia and bone and metabolic disease
– and next-generation clinical initiatives that focus on fluid
reduction, diabetes management, medication management and infection
reduction.
- FluidWise® – The FluidWise
program focuses on educating physicians, patients and teammates on
the importance of fluid management, sodium intake and weight
management. Early efforts at fluid management have led to greater
than a 10 percentage point decrease in interdialytic weight
gain.
- StepAhead Diabetes ManagementTM – The
program helps coordinate care for dialysis patients who have
diabetes, which is a leading cause of kidney disease.
- MedsMatterTM – The MedsMatter program
is DaVita's medication management program, focusing on the
completion of timely and effective home medication reviews as well
as providing tools and services to reduce medication-related
patient hospitalization.
- WipeOut Infection® – The WipeOut
Infection program aims to lower the risk of infection for dialysis
patients by educating physicians, teammates and patients on the
importance of habits and procedures to prevent infections.
To learn more about DaVita Kidney
Care's commitment to quality, visit
DaVita.com/Five-Star.
About DaVita Kidney
Care
DaVita Kidney
Care is a division of DaVita Inc., a Fortune 500® company
that, through its operating divisions, provides a variety of health
care services to patient populations throughout the United States and abroad. A leading
provider of dialysis services in the
United States, DaVita Kidney
Care treats patients with chronic kidney failure and end
stage renal disease. DaVita Kidney
Care strives to improve patients' quality of life by
innovating clinical care, and by offering integrated treatment
plans, personalized care teams and convenient health-management
services. As of June 30, 2016,
DaVita Kidney Care operated or
provided administrative services at 2,293 outpatient dialysis
centers located in the United
States serving approximately 185,000 patients. The company
also operated 127 outpatient dialysis centers located in 11
countries outside the United
States. DaVita Kidney Care
supports numerous programs dedicated to creating positive,
sustainable change in communities around the world. The company's
leadership development initiatives and social responsibility
efforts have been recognized by Fortune, Modern Healthcare,
Newsweek and WorldBlu. For more information, please visit
DaVita.com.
Contact Information
Kate
Stabrawa
303-876-7527
Kate.stabrawa@davita.com
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SOURCE DaVita Inc.
