inTandem Health and National Kidney Foundation Partner to Help Health Systems Transform Patient and Living Donor Support in Kidney Transplant Care and Reach CMS IOTA Goals

MILL VALLEY, Calif. and NEW YORK, Dec. 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Kidney Foundation (NKF), the nation's leading nonprofit dedicated to the prevention and treatment of kidney disease, and inTandem Health, a pioneer in digital peer support solutions, today announced a strategic partnership to revolutionize the transplant experience for patients, living donors, and caregivers nationwide.

This first-of-its-kind collaboration combines NKF's network of more than 200 trained peer mentors and national coordination team with inTandem's state-of-the-art digital consumer experience platform, creating a turnkey solution for transplant centers. The partnership ensures that every patient and donor is automatically offered highly trained and trusted, one-to-one peer support at the right moment in their journey.

Meeting a Critical Need & CMS IOTA Goals

Every day in the United States, 13 people die waiting for a kidney transplant. Patients often face long wait times, emotional isolation, and uncertainty, while care teams are stretched thin. Together, NKF and inTandem are addressing these challenges by creating a scalable system of human connection and data-driven support.

This partnership directly advances CMS IOTA goals by:

• Supporting more living donors to complete the donation process—an essential IOTA priority. By also providing an extra layer of emotional and practical support, peer mentors help potential donors overcome barriers, feel confident in their decision, and follow through. This leads to more living donors, more kidney transplants, and measurable progress toward IOTA's mandate to increase transplant volume.

Proven Impact

• At the University of Michigan Health, every kidney transplant patient and living donor is connected with a peer mentor through inTandem's Human Connect platform, with automated Epic onboarding ensuring that new recipients, donors, and caregivers are seamlessly invited at the right moment in their journey. The program has already saved hundreds of clinical hours for physicians and nurses by having mentors answer non-clinical questions—while increasing patient satisfaction by over 90%.
• Over 84% of living donors who donated through the NKF referral link were connected to a peer mentor, demonstrating the critical role of peer support in living donor decision-making.
• 80% of donors reported that mentorship helped them feel more confident in their decision to donate.

What This Partnership Delivers

For hospitals and transplant centers, the NKF–inTandem collaboration offers a turnkey, ready-to-launch solution that integrates seamlessly into existing workflows:

• Immediate launch readiness: Leverages NKF's 400+ trained kidney mentors and national coordination team.
• Automated enrollment: Epic integration ensures that every eligible patient, donor, and caregiver is invited at the right time in their journey.
• Operational efficiency: inTandem's Human Connect platform deflects non-clinical questions, reduces coordinator burden, and surfaces actionable data on at-risk patients.
• Actionable insights from Mentor Signals: Feedback loop that connects care team data insights that lead to better outcomes and increased retention

Leadership Perspectives

"By bringing together NKF's unmatched mentor training and community and inTandem's innovative Human Connect technology, we are creating a powerful new model of patient- and donor-centered care," said Jessica Joseph, SVP Scientific Operations, National Kidney Foundation.

"This partnership represents a turning point in how we support patients and families," said Paul Hoffman, CEO, inTandem Health. "Together with NKF, we're making sure no patient or donor has to navigate the transplant journey alone—while giving hospitals the insights they need to improve retention, outcomes, and trust."

"The CMS IOTA Model is all about outcomes, particularly reducing readmissions and improving care coordination," said John Davis, former CEO of NKF and KDIGO, and inTandem Health Board Member. "Peer mentors can play a vital role in keeping patients informed, prepared, and adherent to care plans. They are a cost-effective extension of the care team, reducing staff burden while making a measurable impact on the metrics that matter most to hospitals."

inTandem Health Board Leadership Supporting the Partnership

inTandem Health's board includes nationally recognized leaders in kidney and hospital care who are actively guiding the NKF partnership. John Davis, former CEO of NKF and KDIGO, and Fred Brown, past chair of NKF, the American Hospital Association, and The Joint Commission, bring decades of experience in advancing patient-centered transplant care.

About the National Kidney Foundation
The National Kidney Foundation is revolutionizing the fight to save lives by eliminating preventable kidney disease, accelerating innovation for the dignity of the patient experience, and dismantling structural inequities in kidney care, dialysis and transplantation. For more information about NKF, visit www.kidney.org

About inTandem Health
inTandem Health is a digital health company transforming the transplant experience by connecting living donors, patients, and caregivers through a secure peer support platform. By addressing both emotional and practical needs, inTandem helps health systems improve outcomes, increase patient acquisition and retention, meet CMS IOTA goals, and deliver compassionate care at scale. Learn more at www.intandemhealth.net

SOURCE National Kidney Foundation