Former Time Warner and HBO CEO Gerald Levin Joins Dialyze Direct as Chief Mission Officer

BROOKLYN, N.Y., Oct. 2, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Dialyze Direct, LLC,  a leading kidney care innovation company specializing in advancements in home dialysis service and technology, announced today that Gerald "Jerry" Levin, former CEO of Time Warner and HBO has joined Dialyze Direct as Chief Mission Officer and Chairman of Dialyze Innovation Group, a division of the company focused on technological advancements in the management of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD).

Levin has recently been diagnosed with kidney failure and brings personal experience as a dialysis patient to Dialyze Direct. Levin is charged with driving patient-centered innovation for geriatric patients, who currently make up approximately half of all dialysis patients. Levin is dedicated to the expansion of Dialyze Direct's next-generation home dialysis service which is designed to drive superior health outcomes for geriatric patients in nursing homes through a more compassionate and personalized care model.

Dialyze Direct is the country's largest provider of on-site home hemodialysis in nursing homes. Levin, who is also the Executive Chairman of StartUp Health, will bring his knowledge of healthcare innovation to further the advancement of new technologies and services through Dialyze Innovation Group, which has recently announced a collaboration with MIT to test new materials that may improve the ability of dialysis process to remove additional toxins from the blood more quickly and effectively than today's standard dialysis membranes.

"I am determined, against all odds, to give my experience and voice to brighten the prospects of the forgotten souls faced with this awful disease," said Levin. "The infrastructure to bring about this change has been brilliantly constructed by the social entrepreneurs at Dialyze Direct. Their unbreakable commitment to the dignity of a massive demographic of elderly dialysis patients has been realized in extraordinary clinical outcomes. As the United States government responds to the social, financial and operational discords of kidney care with an outcry for innovation, Dialyze Direct has already begun scaling an exemplary model which should be a model for the whole dialysis market."

Dialyze Direct's innovative care model is built around gentler dialysis treatments, which enable patients to be treated within their home, under the supervision of Dialyze Direct's staff in close collaboration with the patient's nephrologist. The focus on coordinated care and patient comfort has resulted in exceptional clinical outcomes and quality of life improvements for this medically complex demographic, including faster recovery times and significant reductions in infections and hospitalizations. Dialyze Direct is operating in nine states, with expansion underway nationwide.

"Medicare spends about $35 billion each year on care for those with end-stage renal disease, yet dialysis hasn't changed substantially in nearly fifty years," said Henry Kauftheil, Chairman of Dialyze Direct. "As we continue the rapid expansion of our proven care model across the United States, we are excited for Jerry to bring his extraordinary leadership acumen, and his uniquely personal experience to our mission to significantly improve all aspects of kidney care. We are honored to have him come on board."

About Kidney Disease
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 30 million people in the United States (15% of the US population) have chronic kidney disease (CKD), and kidney disease is the ninth leading cause of death in the United States.¹  End-stage renal disease (ESRD), also called kidney failure, is the last stage of CKD. With ESRD, the kidneys are no longer able to filter wastes and excess fluid from the body, causing toxic levels of fluid, electrolytes and wastes to build up in the blood, which makes dialysis or a kidney transplant necessary. According to the United States Renal Data System (USRDS), more than 726,000 people in the United States are being treated for ESRD, approximately 509,000 of which are receiving dialysis, numbers which are on the rise. The annual Medicare spending to treat ESRD in the U.S. is approximately $35 billion.² 

About Dialyze Direct
Dialyze Direct is a leading kidney care innovation company, pioneering breakthrough solutions for patients suffering from kidney disease. Dialyze Direct has created a dialysis model resulting in significantly improved patient outcomes and quality of life while substantially decreasing costs for payors. With a mission to build the next generation of kidney care, Dialyze Direct works with the world's leading nephrology talent to develop new methods and technology to evolve the treatment options nephrologists have at their disposal. Dialyze Direct has launched operations in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas, and is in the final stage of launching operations in an additional four states.

¹ "National Chronic Kidney Disease Fact Sheet, 2017" Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/pdf/kidney_factsheet.pdf. Accessed on 5/9/2019.
² United States Renal Data System. 2018 USRDS annual data report: Epidemiology of kidney disease in the United States. National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, MD, 2018

SOURCE Dialyze Direct