National Kidney Foundation Hosts First-Ever Summit to Reduce Preventable Kidney Disease

NEW YORK, Oct. 7, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today the National Kidney Foundation brings together senior healthcare officials for the first CKDintercept Summit: Building a Road Map to Reduce Preventable Kidney Disease.  The ultimate goal of the Summit, chaired by former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin, is to reduce preventable kidney disease and its progression. 

"More than 26 million Americans are affected by chronic kidney disease, yet up to 90% are not even aware that they have it.   It is estimated that 1 in 3 Americans are at risk for chronic kidney disease (CKD) within their lifetime.  That's a staggering statistic, especially because there is so much more we can be doing to prevent the disease from developing in the first place," said Regina Benjamin, MD, MBA, and Chair of the CKDintercept Summit.  "We have an enormous opportunity for prevention.  Medical researchers have already demonstrated that early intervention can slow the progression of chronic kidney disease, now the key is to diagnose the disease much earlier in order to improve quality of life and potentially extend a patient's lifespan," added Dr. Benjamin.    

Over a period of nine months, National Kidney Foundation (NKF) recruited and engaged senior leaders from diverse stakeholder groups who have expertise in driving large-scale changes in healthcare.  Through a series of confidential interviews, NKF captured actionable information and the experiences of these leaders on improving diagnosis and management of chronic kidney disease (CKD).  The Summit, being held today in New York City, features hands-on working groups to review the data collected, identify obstacles in the path of CKD prevention and timely diagnosis, and develop a road map for change.  Summit participants include senior leadership from medical professional groups, large healthcare systems, laboratory partners, government and private insurers, technology industry experts and other key influencers. 

"We have assembled leading experts in healthcare to develop a clear and cohesive strategy to tackle a hidden problem—one that costs taxpayers over $100 billion a year," said Kevin Longino, Chief Executive Officer of National Kidney Foundation (NKF), and a kidney patient himself. "Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an under-diagnosed, devastating disease which has long-term public health costs and consequences.  Because there are often no symptoms until later stages, primary care physicians may not discover chronic kidney disease until it has progressed too far—our goal is to prevent that," added Longino.   

Part of the day's discussion will feature examples of two innovative initiatives with chronic kidney disease surveillance programs aimed at preventing the disease and its progression—CareMore Health System and Humana, Inc.

"CareMore Health System has a longstanding commitment to early diagnosis and proactively managing chronic diseases as part of a holistic approach to care. We are thrilled to collaborate with the National Kidney Foundation to improve chronic kidney disease (CKD) identification and treatment in patients and look forward to participating in this year's CKDintercept Summit to continue to elevate discussions on CKD prevention and management at a national level," said Kinjal Patel, MD, Director of Nephrology & Kidney Disease Prevention, CareMore Health System, and a speaker at the Summit. 

"For people to achieve their best health, we must offer them clinical excellence and coordinated care, and Humana recognizes these can't be achieved without partnership. We appreciate the opportunity to participate in the National Kidney Foundation's CKDintercept Summit because it gives us a chance to hear from the leaders in renal health and offers us a forum to discuss what we've learned from our members living with kidney disease," said Todd Prewitt, MD, FAAFP, Director of Clinical Best Practices, Humana, and presenter at the Summit.

The conclusions of the Summit will develop a CKD Roadmap for Change, to be published in Spring of 2017.  The Roadmap will inform primary care clinicians, as well as health networks, commercial payors, government, laboratory partners, technology industry experts and others about strategies to overcome CKD in the U.S. healthcare system.

Facts about Kidney Disease
1 in 3 American adults is at risk for kidney disease.  26 million American adults have kidney disease—and nearly 90% aren't aware of it.  Risk factors for kidney disease include diabetes, high blood pressure, family history, and age 60+.  People of African American; Hispanic; Native American, Asian; or Pacific Islander descent are at increased risk for developing the disease.  African Americans are 3 ½ times more likely, and Hispanics 1 ½ times more likely, to experience kidney failure. 

The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) is the largest, most comprehensive and longstanding organization dedicated to the awareness, prevention and treatment of kidney disease.  For more information about NKF visit www.kidney.org.

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SOURCE National Kidney Foundation

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