DaVita Reports on 2014 Corporate Social Responsibility Progress

DENVER, June 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc. (NYSE: DVA), one of the nation's largest and most innovative health care communities, today announced the release of its 2014 Community Care report, which highlights key clinical, operational and corporate social responsibility (CSR) achievements in 2014.

"In all corners of our Village – whether it's a dialysis center in Saudi Arabia or an urgent care facility in Los Angeles – the spirit of caring for each other, our patients and our communities is alive and well," said Kent Thiry, co-chairman and CEO of DaVita HealthCare Partners.

The report, available at DaVita.com/CommunityCare, outlines DaVita's approach for CSR, called the Trilogy of Care: Caring for Our Patients, Caring for Each Other and Caring for Our World. This approach is what drives industry-leading clinical outcomes, multiple goodwill initiatives and a robust environmental commitment. Highlights from the 2014 report include the following.

Caring for Our Patients

The Kidney Care and HealthCare Partners divisions of DaVita HealthCare Partners together support more than 1 million primary and specialty care patients through an integrated care model that focuses on the whole patient, not just the disease. DaVita's innovative clinical programs help to coordinate all facets of health, including diet, medications, patient education and emotional support to improve clinical outcomes, reduce healthcare costs and enhance patient quality of life.

Leading Industry Quality

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Five-Star Quality Rating System recognized DaVita as the highest rated among all major dialysis providers. DaVita Kidney Care outperformed the industry average by 138 percent, with 50 percent of clinics earning a four- or five-star rating. HealthCare Partners was also recognized in 2014 for outstanding clinical measures. The Integrated Healthcare Association awarded HCP a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars for quality of care provided to Medicare Advantage patients in California. This was one of the highest ratings across all California physician organizations.

Paladina Health

Paladina Health, a primary care subsidiary of DaVita Healthcare Partners provides a patient-centric approach and 24/7 access to personal physicians.  Paladina submits information to CMS known as the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS). In 2014, Paladina's Clinical Excellence program exceeded the HEDIS 90th percentile in hypertension management—a commercial HMO benchmark for quality.

International

DaVita Kidney Care is committed to elevating the health and quality of life for patients around the world. In 2014 DaVita celebrated the accreditation of a dialysis center in Malaysia—the first-ever dialysis center to be accredited in the country. DaVita was also recognized in India as the Dialysis Service Provider Company of the Year.

Clinical Initiatives

DaVita Kidney Care made strides in four Quality of Life programs that focus on fluid, medication, infection and diabetes management for kidney care patients.

HealthCare Partners has worked to help primary and specialty care patients achieve their best possible health through a number of innovative programs and initiatives, including:

• Transitions of Care: Decrease unnecessary hospital readmissions.
• Flu Vaccinations: Aim to vaccinate 70 percent of patients and 90 percent of teammates.
• Hypertension: Work to achieve blood pressure control for at least 75 percent of hypertensive patients.

Caring for Each Other

DaVita provides unique opportunities for teammates to succeed at work and at home through leadership courses, professional development, education scholarships for children and grandchildren, and support in times of crisis.

DaVita's Village Vitality program offers teammates multiple tools for making healthy choices including:

• Free biometric screenings at work sites
• Stress-management courses
• Tobacco-use cessation programs
• Challenges such as Match the Mayor, a six-week program in which teammates try to match Chairman and CEO Kent Thiry in adding a variety of fruits and vegetables to their daily meals.

DaVita Village Network

The DaVita Village Network gives teammates the opportunity to help each other during times of crisis, such as a natural disaster, an accident or an illness. Teammates can make payroll contributions, which DaVita provides funding to match up to $250,000 per year.

Developing Leaders

In 2014, a record-breaking number of teammates attended DaVita University's award-winning classes for teammate development. Through DaVita University's School of Leadership, School of Clinical Education and Village Gatherings, DaVita directly touched more than 22,600 teammates in 2014. DaVita University also launched a dozen new and innovative leadership and educational programs, expanded the availability of distance learning and rolled out leadership and development programs to international teammates in multiple countries.

DaVita Way

DaVita Way Days and Monthly Activities introduce teammates to DaVita's Core Values and various symbols and traditions for celebrating success. Teammates learn how to create and lead DaVita Way activities in their centers and offices.

Caring for Our World

DaVita is working to improve the lives of patients, the regions in which DaVita operates and those in need throughout the world by examining and reducing the company's environmental impact, performing international medical missions, offering health screenings and pursuing philanthropic endeavors.

DaVita Way of Giving

DaVita continued its long tradition of supporting local communities this year by making charitable contributions across the nation through the DaVita Way of Giving. As part of the program, teammates in centers chose more than 950 nonprofits and community organizations to receive more than $1.6 million in 2014. The program has donated a total of $4 million since it began. In HealthCare Partners' first year with DaVita Way of Giving, 46 clinics in four states donated to 38 different charities.

Home-State Engagement

In addition to $1.6 million in nationwide giving, DaVita HealthCare Partners contributed more than $1.3 million in donations to 90 nonprofits and community groups in Denver, where the company is headquartered.

KT Community Foundation

The KT Community Foundation funds teammate-led projects that make a difference in teammates' local communities and overseas. To date, the KT Community Foundation has funded more than $367,000 for such projects.

Village Service Days

Since 2006, DaVita Kidney Care teammates and their families and friends have volunteered more than 79,000 hours through 1,470 Village Service Days community service projects. HealthCare Partners and Paladina Health teammates also participate in a variety of volunteer projects and events specific to their communities.

Community Efforts

More than 60 HealthCare Partners care sites and administrative offices in California participated in a variety of service projects in 2014. These included literacy programs, collecting blankets for tsunami victims and food for children in need, building prosthetic hands and organizing hygiene kits for women's shelters, among others.

Sustainability

DaVita HealthCare Partners continues to help improve patients' health and quality of life while reducing our environmental footprint. In 2010, DaVita established environmental goals for the Kidney Care division to achieve by the end of 2015, and is on track to do so.

1. Reduce energy consumption by 15 percent per treatment.
   DaVita Kidney Care has reduced energy consumption by 6 percent per treatment across the country. In 2014, a Building Management Systems pilot launched in 150 centers and we anticipate a 10 percent energy reduction through improvements in temperature controls and set points.
2. Reduce water consumption by 10 percent per treatment.
   Since 2007, DaVita Kidney Care has reduced water consumption in clinics by 30 percent per treatment. Through the efforts of DaVita Kidney Care's biomedical team to optimize the frequency and duration of the water used in the pre-treatment filtration processes, our centers have, on average, reduced gallons per month by 20 percent from 2013 to 2014.
3. Reduce office paper consumption by 20 percent.
   DaVita Kidney Care has reduced paper consumption in centers and offices by 5 percent. Various avenues, including Print to PDF, electronic signatures for contracts and e-faxing capabilities have enabled teammates to move toward more paperless processes.
4. Increase environmentally preferable procurement by 10 percent.
   DaVita Kidney Care continues to increase its environmentally preferable procurement through partnerships with vendors and purchases of environmentally friendly products when available. In 2014 we refurbished more than 1,300 dialysis machines. This prevents hundreds of thousands of pounds of plastic and metal from going to the landfill.
5. Add one teammate education program each year.
   DaVita Kidney Care has added more than one new educational program each year. These programs include events such as green fairs, which educate teammates about sustainability at work and at home. Quarterly criteria were provided for Green Champions, focusing on engaging teammates about energy and paper reduction at their center.

Additionally, DaVita continues to develop processes and protocols to minimize the environmental impact of medical wastage created by necessities associated with patient care – e.g., dialyzers, protective gear, needles, syringes, medication vials, etc.

To learn more about DaVita's approach to corporate social responsibility, please visit DaVita.com/CommunityCare.

Contact Information
Media:
Elizabeth Young
(303) 876-2855
[email protected]  

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SOURCE DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc.