Delivering Better Quality of Care: Relentless Focus and Starting with the End in Mind at DaVita

The care of patients with end‐stage renal disease has been evolving since the implementation of the Medicare entitlement for ESRD in 1973. Over the past 43 years, patients with ESRD have become increasingly complex with multiple comorbid conditions and the average age of new ESRD patients has continued to climb. Despite these challenges, progress has been made in improving mortality and morbidity, but the pace has generally been slow. The consolidation of the US dialysis industry has afforded large providers to achieve economies of scale and efficiencies. By reinvesting resources in innovative programs, the improvements in outcomes have accelerated. At DaVita, we have reimagined care for our ESRD patients by creating a Patient‐Focused Quality Pyramid, an approach to holistic, patient‐centered care that builds on the foundation of well‐known dialysis metrics like adequacy and anemia management to drive more complex programs like fluid, medication, diabetes, and infection management. The ultimate goal is to improve survival, keep patients healthy and out of the hospital, enhance the patient experience of care, and thereby achieve optimal health‐related quality of life. For two consecutive years, DaVita facilities, using this approach, have achieved superior performance in the CMS 5‐Star rating program, most recently with 46% of facilities achieving 4 or 5 stars compared with only 23% of facilities outside of DaVita receiving 4 or 5 stars. This rating system has components of fundamentals, and more complex outcomes and our results are an external validation of the success of our approach in improving the lives of patients.