Managing Our business Responsibility
By conducting our business responsibly and transparently, we establish ourselves as the leader and partner of choice in managing kidney care in a value based system. We must continuously create clinical value for our partners and patients that translates to economic value for all of us. Our approach is guided by evolving best practices and feedback from our stakeholders on topics identified as vital to our shared success.
63k+
U.S. employees and contractors completed compliance policy training.
46k+
U.S. employees completed at least 14 annual health and safety training programs based on job description and role.
62k+
U.S. employees and contractors participated in trainings on Data Privacy and Security.
“We’re the nation’s leading provider of kidney care products and services. Every day, our team of nearly 70,000 employees cares for tens of thousands of people living with kidney disease, and each deserves to live their life to its fullest. We are committed to delivering superior care that improves the quality of life of every patient, every day.”
Bill Valle, Chief Executive Officer, Fresenius Medical Care North America
Governance
global operations and policies
We are a wholly owned subsidiary of Fresenius Medical Care, the world’s leading provider of products and services for individuals with renal diseases. Key information on our global operations includes:
- Fresenius Medical Care Corporate Governance
- Annual Reports
- 2021 Facts and Figures
- 2021 Global Medical Report
- Driving Sustainability and Creating Value for Patients in Global Healthcare
Sustainability reports and indices:
We develop policies and targets to drive progress on our commitments. Key policies and standards include, but are not limited to:
- Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption Policy
- Bioethics Statement
- Code of Ethics and Business Conduct (Global)
- Compliance Brochure for Our Business Partners
- Global Statement on Human Rights, Workplace Rights, and Labor and Employment Principles
- Patient Care Global Policy
- Prohibition of Discrimination, Harassment, Sexual Harassment, and Bullying (Global)
- Global Supplier Code of Conduct
- Global Environment Policy
- Conflict Minerals Policy Statement (Global)
- Group Tax Policy
- Statement on Gender Equality
- Privacy Policy
- Conflict of Interest Policy
- Political Engagement and Advocacy Statement
Responsible Management
Patient Safety
2019 was the fourth consecutive year Fresenius Kidney Care led the industry in patient safety, maintaining 5-Diamond status at 100% of participating facilities.1 The external 5-Diamond program encourages safety for dialysis center patients and staff.
1. Due to the pandemic, the 2020 5-Diamond Patient Safety Program has been extended to 2/15/21 and results will be available in 2021.
Employee Health and Safety
The health and safety of our employees is one of our most important concerns and commitments. Our Corporate Employee Safety Committee is comprised of employees from each business unit, and meets quarterly to identify, develop, and promote initiatives to enhance a sustainable safety environment within our operating entities. Our successful, innovative safety programs and initiatives earned us the CNA Safety in Excellence Award, 20 years running. We are the only company to have achieved this accomplishment.
COMPLIANCE PROGRAM
Our Compliance Program focuses on key healthcare risk areas and partners dedicated ethics and compliance officers with business leaders to set expectations of honesty and integrity in all relationships — with patients, customers, suppliers, fellow employees, investors, the general public, and others. Our Code of Ethics and Business Conduct requires employees to comply with all applicable laws, regulations, rules, and is included in employee training. Our goal is to continue to have all current employees complete annual compliance training and new employees complete it within 45 days of hire.
GLOBAL SUPPLIER CODE OF CONDUCT
The Global Supplier Code of Conduct outlines our commitment to good business practices and sustainable procurement. It is comprised of the following six key principles: integrity and ethics, human rights and labor conditions, occupational health and safety, environment, quality, and governance and management systems.
DATA PRIVACY AND CYBERSECURITY
In March 2018 we established our Information Security Office and appointed a Chief Information Security Officer who partners with executive leadership to deploy trusted solutions that strengthen and streamline our approach to data privacy and cybersecurity.
POLITiCAL ADVOCACY
Our mission is to deliver superior care that improves the quality of life of every patient, every day, setting the standard by which others in the healthcare industry are judged. It is that focus on providing superior care to patients that drives our work every day. It is why we advocate for people living with kidney disease and the dialysis community at all levels of government. Our Government Affairs team collaborates with clinics across the country to provide them with tools and information to support these advocacy efforts.
Education is key to our approach, and providing clinic tours for state legislators, members of Congress, and other government leaders is just one of the ways we work to educate. Clinic tours allow these leaders to see firsthand the importance of end stage renal disease treatment for our patients.
We’ve adapted to the current environment and have moved these tours to a virtual format, providing five to six per week at both the state and federal level. We started these tours nearly five years ago and continue to receive positive feedback from government leaders who enjoy and benefit from being able to see how a dialysis clinic operates, and learn about our focus on quality care, healthcare overall, and patients.
disaster response
When a disaster strikes, our Disaster Response Team works with local, regional, and national entities to ensure critical supplies such as water, fuel, and transportation are prioritized for dialysis patients. We mobilize command centers to account for all patients and employees, arrange food distribution, and supply personal generators, fuel, and water. Our disaster relief efforts were recognized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Citizen Awards for excellence in corporate citizenship (finalist in the Disaster Recovery category, 2018).
“Over the years we have responded to many types of natural and manmade disasters. Anything that disrupts our ability to operate our centers will activate our facility emergency plan, as well as both our local and national response teams. Interruption of water supply is becoming a more frequent issue that requires us to have an alternate water supply vendor on standby to deliver water tankers.”
Bob Loeper, Vice President of Disaster Response
Providing Diagnostic testing for COVID-19
In 2020, we supported 91,000 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for diagnosing a COVID-19 infection through Spectra Laboratories. Spectra Laboratories is the leading provider of renal-specific testing services, performing more than 78 million tests each year.
Research and innovation
renal therapies group (RTG)
Our Clinical Research and Medical Affairs team co-authored 28 scientific and medical publications in support of our products.
frenova renal research
In the world of kidney disease and related disorders, Frenova Renal Research is a site management organization and the largest provider of investigators, chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients, end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients, and data assets for clinical trials. In 2020, Frenova enrolled 786 patients across 44 studies, a 21% increase in patients from 2019.
renal research institute
Our Renal Research Institute (RRI) is committed to helping people with CKD and ESRD lead fuller, more active, and vibrant lives. We strive to achieve this goal by not only offering the best care possible, but also in giving our patients an option to enroll in research studies, which RRI initiates or opts to participate in. After shifting focus toward the pandemic in 2020, RRI had its research published in six peer-review publications and helped advance novel SARS-CoV-2 pool testing strategies.
INVESTING IN INNOVATION
Fresenius Medical Care Ventures invests in start-ups and early-stage companies in the healthcare sector. The investments are targeted to support Fresenius Medical Care’s corporate strategy to grow continuously in our core business and to expand into new business areas. Fresenius Medical Care Ventures is complementing the corporate activities in external innovation.
RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP FOR NEW KIDNEY DISEASE TREATMENTS
To advance new research in kidney disease and to help find a cure, the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) established The Ben J. Lipps Research Fellowship as part of its KidneyCure foundation. The fellowship is named after the former CEO of Fresenius Medical Care North America. Since its establishment in 2012, we have contributed $10 million and supported 35 unique studies. The program supports research over a two-year period, with five new fellowships funded annually. In 2021, the Ben J. Lipps Research Fellowship Program received 46 applications and awarded 10 new research fellowship grants.
Artificial Intelligence Solutions in Nephrology
Artificial Intelligence (AI), data science, and advanced analytics are helping make advances in the treatment of chronic kidney disease care and across healthcare at large. By leveraging big data to accelerate AI solutions for kidney disease, researchers, data scientists, and practitioners are developing clinical tools that enhance patient care. Throughout the organization, we’re using advanced analytics to support clinical decision making with a suite of more than 20 different models. Some of these AI-based tools include models to reduce hospitalizations, provide insights on who may be ideal in-center dialysis patients who would do well on home modalities, identify patient acuity according to social workers and dietitians, and predict peritoneal dialysis technique failure.
Contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
All corporate responsibility data is from 2020 unless otherwise noted.
