HHS Secretary Alex Azar indicated Monday (March 4) that HHS hopes to change incentives for home dialysis and transplants, as he said the system is leading dialysis companies to keep from helping patients find or prep for a transplant and to not give patients the best options for care in the home. However, Kidney Care Partners, which includes major dialysis providers DaVita and Fresenius, released an analysis that says dialysis care improvements in patient survival and per-patient Medicare spending reductions have outpaced those for certain other chronic diseases.

Azar said the innovation center is working on new kidney care demonstrations.

The administration wants to focus on efforts to prevent, detect and slow the progression of kidney disease; provide more treatment options, including home-based care; and deliver more organs for transplants, he said.

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