DENVER, Jan. 26, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- DaVita Kidney
Care, a division of DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc. (NYSE: DVA) and
a leading provider of kidney care services, today announced that it
ranked first in outcomes in two recently released reports issued by
the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) – the 2015 end
stage renal disease (ESRD) Quality Incentive Program (QIP) and the
newly created Five-Star ranking program.
"For 15 years clinical quality has always been the first order
of business at DaVita," said DaVita HealthCare Partners Co-Chairman
and CEO Kent Thiry. "It's gratifying
to see those efforts positively reflected in the two government
reports showing our national leadership in dialysis patient
outcomes."
CMS Quality Incentive Program
According to the QIP
results, released by CMS in mid-January, DaVita ranked first in
three of four clinical measures in the ESRD program. This is the
second straight year that DaVita has been a leader in QIP
results.
QIP is part of Medicare's ESRD program aimed at improving the
quality of care provided to Medicare patients. It was designed and
passed into law in part to be the nation's first
pay-for-performance quality incentive program. CMS describes QIP as
a "first-of-its-kind program [that] provides the ESRD community
with the opportunity to enhance the overall quality of care that
ESRD patients receive as they battle this devastating disease."
"We're proud of the focus of our caregivers, which has driven
excellent QIP results for the second year in a row," said Thiry.
"As a result of our passion for delivering excellent care, we have
enhanced the patient experience and reduced the burden on the
health care system, saving taxpayer money."
The ESRD QIP reduces payments to ESRD facilities that do not
meet or exceed certain performance standards. DaVita outperformed
other kidney care providers with 98.5 percent of the company's
centers ranking in the top clinical performance tier. DaVita's QIP
penalty rate is 73 percent lower than that of the rest of the
industry. Additionally, while DaVita's percentage of centers with
penalties decreased, the percentage of the rest of the
industry's centers with penalties increased in the last
year.
In the 2014 QIP results, in addition to having 98.4 percent of
its centers in the top clinical performance tier, DaVita also
distinguished itself in reducing the proportion of low-performing
centers in rural and low-income counties. At the release of that
last report, DaVita had achieved a 21 percent reduction in
rural and low income centers that missed the top clinical tier
since the program's inception in 2012 – the rest of the industry
saw a 24 percent increase during that same time period. This
is a significant measure because rural and low-income areas present
the greatest challenges to delivering top-tier clinical results.
The full ESRD QIP reports can be downloaded at CMS.gov
CMS Five-Star Ranking System
The new Five–Star
ranking system is a mechanism created by CMS to help consumers
evaluate dialysis facilities. In the rankings, released to the
public on Jan. 22, DaVita leads all
providers with the highest number of centers ranked with four and
five stars. Stars are awarded for each clinic's performance. DaVita
represents 32 percent of all rated facilities and 53 percent of
centers that received a rating of four or five stars. When
combining all DaVita clinics and comparing them to other providers,
DaVita clearly outperformed the rest of the industry.
CMS is using the Five-Star ranking to rank dialysis facilities
on quality in order to give consumers a better picture of how their
locally delivered health care compares to that of the nation. The
Five-Star ranking methodology comes from the distillation of seven
data points and uses the data from all facilities to rank centers
on an industry-wide bell curve, which will be displayed on the
Dialysis Facility Compare (DFC) website. Depending on where
dialysis facilities fall on the curve will determine whether they
receive a five-, four-, three-, two- or one-star ranking.
Despite DaVita's superior performance, the company shares the
concerns of the rest of the kidney care community over significant
flaws in the Five-Star ranking system. The Five Star system forces
some high-performing clinics into lower rankings due to its use of
a bell curve ranking system versus one that is purely
objective.
"We are committed to clinical excellence and will continue to
invest in our teammates, clinical research and other valuable areas
so that our patients get the very best care," said Thiry.
Due to continuous investment in patient care, DaVita Kidney Care has improved clinical
outcomes for 15 years in a row, which has driven a reduction in
hospitalizations, lowered mortality rates and improved the overall
patient experience.
About DaVita HealthCare Partners
DaVita
HealthCare Partners Inc., a Fortune 500® company, is the parent
company of DaVita Kidney Care and
HealthCare Partners. DaVita Kidney
Care is a leading provider of kidney care in the United States, delivering dialysis
services to patients with chronic kidney failure and end stage
renal disease. As of Sept. 30, 2014,
DaVita Kidney Care operated or
provided administrative services at 2,152 outpatient dialysis
centers located in the United
States serving approximately 170,000 patients. The company
also operated 87 outpatient dialysis centers located in 10
countries outside the United
States. HealthCare Partners manages and operates medical
groups and affiliated physician networks in Arizona, California, Nevada, New
Mexico, and Florida in its
pursuit to deliver excellent-quality health care in a dignified and
compassionate manner. As of Sept. 30,
2014, HealthCare Partners provided integrated care
management for approximately 836,000 patients. For more
information, please visit DaVitaHealthCarePartners.com.
Contact Information
Media:
Kate Stabrawa
(303) 876-7527
kate.stabrawa@davita.com
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SOURCE DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc.