Innovate Kidney Care Releases Report Recommending Solutions to Modernize Conditions for Coverage for ESRD Patients

SAN JOSE, Calif., March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Innovate Kidney Care (IKC) campaign released an insightful new paper today on the impact of one of the major barriers to at home kidney dialysis. The paper, Recommended Changes to Conditions for Coverage to Improve and Modernize Kidney Care, examines the impact of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Conditions for Coverage (CfC) Rule for End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) facilities. It proposes three key solutions to update the rule for a new era of health tech innovation – and to provide greater access to home dialysis.

IKC is a campaign made up of patient and physician advocates, health benefits companies, care providers, and medical device manufacturers, who seek to improve patient options for home dialysis training and support. The campaign's report takes a deep dive into the current CMS rule, which has not been reviewed in more than a decade, and its resulted in limited treatment options for hundreds of thousands of kidney dialysis patients.

Medical technology advancing faster than regulations

This is important because more than 550,000 kidney disease patients rely on dialysis treatment across the U.S., yet only 13% receive dialysis at home. Technology has advanced faster than government regulations, and this widening gap is affecting patients.

"Since 2008, there have been groundbreaking innovations and improvements to kidney care and health care delivery, especially in the areas of home dialysis," said Tonya Saffer, vice president, government affairs and market access at Outset, a founding organizational member of IKC. "Yet the CMS rules governing how dialysis facilities must operate in order to receive Medicare reimbursement remain unchanged, presenting barriers to expanding access and rethinking the way that kidney care is delivered today and into the future."

Offering patients an option to dialyze at home matters, because it is widely accepted that home dialysis provides people autonomy and allows them to pursue economic opportunities, a better quality of life, and improved health.  It also provides for more flexible and personalized care, including personalized ultrafiltration rates, dialysis duration, and treatment frequencies, which impact patient outcomes, symptom burden, and quality of life outcomes.

A call to CMS for modernization

IKC is calling upon CMS to modernize its CfCs rule for ESRD facilities to fit what patients need now and the emerging medical landscape. The white paper provides deeper analysis of the following key areas CMS needs to address in order to effect change:

1. Alleviating the Nursing Shortage via Multidisciplinary Care Teams. Reduce administrative burdens on clinicians and foster more attention toward patient outcomes, empowerment, and safety
2. Promoting Competition and Patient Choice. Expand patient access to home dialysis and self-dialysis by driving competition in the marketplace
3. Furthering Patient Centricity. Modernize regulations and guidance to keep pace with the innovations in home dialysis and telehealth for dialysis patients. Leverage telehealth to create more patient-centered customized options for both training and support

"Many more patients would choose home dialysis if it were more accessible.  Home dialysis restores patients control over their lives, but today there are too few options for accessing home dialysis. Modernizing the CMS regulations for home dialysis and addressing anticompetitive practices will inspire more widespread investment in the modality increasing equitable access," said Nicole Jefferson President of Home Dialyzors United, a founding organizational member of IKC.

Organizations, patients and clinicians can join the IKC campaign by emailing [email protected] or via DM at @InnovateKidney. Recommended Changes to Conditions for Coverage to Improve and Modernize Kidney Care is available at https://www.innovatekidneycare.com/wp-content/uploads/Improve_and_Modernize_Kidney_Care-position-paper.pdf.

About Innovate Kidney Care

Founded in 2021, Innovate Kidney Care - a campaign made up of patient and physician advocates, health benefits companies, care providers, and medical device manufacturers - collaborates to remove barriers to treatment choice for kidney patients and ensure more people can easily access dialysis at home. Our mission is to give patients experiencing kidney failure the best chance at maintaining their quality of life. We are committed to changing outdated federal policies to providing more patients the choice to receive their dialysis at home.  To learn more about Innovate Kidney Care, visit innovatekidneycare.com.

SOURCE Innovate Kidney Care