On March 15, DaVita®,
a division of DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc. (NYSE: DVA) and a leading
provider of kidney care services, was recognized with the Patient Safety
Improvement Award during the Renal Physician Association’s (RPA) annual
meeting for the company’s innovative CathAwayTM program.
Each year RPA acknowledges a pioneering initiative to improve the safety
of patients with end-stage renal disease. Awardees are selected by a
committee of physicians, patients and health care professionals.
Dialysis requires access to the patient’s vascular system, and some
access methods are more prone to infection than others. CathAway’s
mission is straightforward: eliminate infection-prone central venous
catheters (CVCs) and replace them with functioning arteriovenous (AV)
fistulas or grafts for safe and effective dialysis treatments.
Since its inception in 2008, nearly 12,000 fewer DaVita patients are
dialyzing with CVCs.
“We’re so pleased with CathAway’s outcomes and how we’ve been able to
help improve the quality of life of thousands of patients,” said DaVita
Chief Medical Officer Allen R. Nissenson, M.D., F.A.C.P., who accepted
the award on behalf of DaVita. “By decreasing CVC use, we have also
helped patients avoid serious complications, including infection, which
often result in hospitalization and contribute to mortality. Not only
are the clinical benefits of CVC elimination substantial, but the total
costs of health care are decreased—a significant savings to taxpayers.”
DaVita’s clinical team also instituted a series of efforts to keep
patients from reverting to CVCs because of thrombosis (clotting) while
dialyzing with fistulas and grafts. These efforts included emphasizing
the link between clinical goals and patient safety in both internal and
external communications; reaching out to physicians through educational
seminars that include CathAway information; companywide engagement to
encourage patients and clinical staff to listen for signs of distress in
their dialysis access; and a pilot test of software for monitoring
thrombosis risk.
The CathAway program has been extraordinarily successful. By the end of
2012 the rate of patients on dialysis for more than 90 days with a CVC
dropped to an all-time low of 13.9 percent. Clot rates dropped from 42
percent to 12 percent in the pilot surveillance program.
DaVita and DaVita HealthCare Partners are trademarks or registered
trademarks of DaVita Healthcare Partners Inc. All other trademarks are
the property of their respective owners.
About DaVita
DaVita is the dialysis division of DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc., a
Fortune 500® company that, through its operating divisions, provides a
variety of health care services to patient populations throughout the
United States and abroad. A leading provider of kidney care in the
United States, DaVita delivers dialysis services to patients with
chronic kidney failure and end stage renal disease. DaVita strives to
improve patients’ quality of life by innovating clinical care, and by
offering integrated treatment plans, personalized care teams and
convenient health-management services. As of Dec. 31, 2012, DaVita
operated or provided administrative services at 1,954 outpatient
dialysis centers located in the United States serving approximately
153,000 patients. The company also operated 36 outpatient dialysis
centers located in eight countries outside the United States. DaVita
supports numerous programs dedicated to creating positive, sustainable
change in communities around the world. The company’s leadership
development initiatives and social responsibility efforts have been
recognized by Fortune, Modern Healthcare, Newsweek and WorldBlu. For
more information, please visit DaVita.com.
