Dr. Krishnan to Focus on Supporting Innovative Treatments to Improve Patient-Centric Kidney Care, Ensure Access to Quality Care and Sustained Quality Improvements

WASHINGTON – Kidney Care Partners (KCP) – the nation’s leading kidney care multi-stakeholder coalition representing patient advocates, physician organizations, health professional groups, dialysis providers, researchers and manufacturers – is pleased to announce Mahesh Krishnan, MD, MPH, MBA as its new chair. In taking the helm of the nation’s largest kidney coalition, Dr. Krishnan will lead the coalition’s continued work to ensure our nation’s individuals living with kidney disease, kidney failure, and transplants can access the quality care of their choice, including the innovative therapies that patients with other chronic conditions routinely have access to.

With Dr. Krishnan’s leadership, KCP’s recently released policy priorities document outlines four key areas of focus:

• Restore patient choice under the Medicare Secondary Payer Act
• Secure appropriate reimbursement for innovative products
• Ensure appropriate coverage and reimbursement under Medicare Advantage
• Address inclusion of oral-only drugs in the ESRD PPS bundle

Dr. Krishnan will also lead the coalition’s continued efforts to improve quality measures for evaluating kidney care as well as improve access, expand choice, and remove barriers for those living with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) seeking a kidney transplant.

“It’s a great privilege to be chosen by my colleagues throughout the kidney care community to serve in the leadership of the nation’s largest kidney coalition, which has made strides in improving care for the more than 37 million Americans living with kidney disease,” said Dr. Krishnan. “We look forward to further strengthening our partnership with policymakers to promote and support access to next-generation treatments that can take the standard of kidney care to a higher level.”

Dr. Krishnan was elected among his peers to serve a two-year term from 2024-2026 and succeeds outgoing chairman John P. Butler, President and Chief Executive Officer of Akebia Therapeutics.

Dr. Krishnan is a Group Vice President at DaVita Kidney Care. Previously, he has held various roles, including serving as the founding International Chief Medical Officer of DaVita, co-leading the DaVita Venture Group, and serving as the medical head of DaVita’s clinical research arm. Before joining DaVita, Dr. Krishnan served in various roles at Amgen, where he worked on medical affairs, health economics, and medical policy, and played a key role in discussions with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).