Comprehensive End Stage Renal Disease Model (CEC) Tests and Evaluates New Payment and Care Delivery Model

Washington, DC – The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its “Medicare Comprehensive End Stage Renal Disease Care Model Performance Year Results” findings, showing 12 of the 13 participating providers achieved approximately $75 million in savings to the Medicare program and demonstrated measureable improvements in key areas of kidney care.

The demonstration, started in October 2015, was designed by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (Innovation Center) in collaboration with the kidney community in an ongoing effort to advance coordinated care models among the dialysis patient population with the goal of sustaining quality improvements while achieving cost savings to the Medicare program.  The overall results show a measurable reduction in the cost of patient care and positive performance results among a series of quality measures established by CMS, namely physician communication, patient education and facility operations.

Kidney Care Partners (KCP), a coalition of patient advocates, researchers, dialysis professionals and care providers, maintains that care delivery models that focus on improved care coordination for patient populations with multiple chronic conditions and medical challenges – such as individuals living with kidney failure – is a win-win for everyone, caregivers, patients and payers alike.  Data indicates that for patients diagnosed with kidney failure, coordinated care has resulted in fewer hospital days and disease-related complications, which translates to reduced costs.

End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patients face numerous medical challenges. Not only do these individuals require life-sustaining dialysis treatments typically three times per week for approximately four hours per treatment, most patients are also living with multiple chronic health conditions that require the involvement of more than one medical specialist.  These patients typically take an average of eight different medications daily and are hospitalized approximately twice each year.  Coordination of care across settings and providers is crucial to reducing health system costs and ensuring positive patient outcomes.

KCP appreciates the ongoing productive collaboration it has with CMS for exploring innovative models that positively impact the lives of individuals with kidney failure while improving efficiencies and increasing engagement with the kidney care community to address important areas such as care coordination.  To that end, KCP looks forward to ongoing, productive collaboration with both CMS and Congress to achieve our shared goals for sustained quality improvement and Medicare savings.

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