The advances in kidney disease care that fundamentally transformed a fatal condition into a chronic, manageable illness are among the great achievements in modern medicine. Making high-quality, reliable healthcare available to individuals living with kidney disease has been our company’s mission since its founding a quarter century ago.
Fresenius Medical Care began with a clear vision to address the global impact of kidney disease by combining medical device engineering expertise with comprehensive patient care knowledge, in a company that puts patients at the center of its thinking. Every year, millions of people with kidney failure die because treatment is not available, accessible, or affordable—and governments and ministries of health around the world are putting a necessary focus on this. The worldwide variability and disparities in kidney disease care also represent a highly complex and unique challenge. With a scope that is both meaningful and flexible, Fresenius Medical Care takes the best ideas, invests in their development, and implements and innovates those ideas at scale.
The ability to take healthcare innovations and learnings from one locale to another has helped Fresenius Medical Care make an impact in communities worldwide. By advancing standards of care through knowledge sharing and innovation in care delivery, the company has made a number of sentinel milestones for the field that have had significant impact on patient care, leading to both higher care quality and more availability of that care.
FRESENIUS MEDICAL CARE CONTRIBUTIONS TO MAJOR HEALTHCARE ADVANCES
A LEGACY OF LIFELONG LEARNING
Fresenius Medical Care is built on a legacy of learning and evolving the delivery of care and the tools to treat advanced kidney disease (Figure 1).
FIGURE 1 | Advancing the Kidney Care Model
Each year, we care for more than 350,000 patients directly, with more than 50 million treatments. In fact, one in two dialysis machines used in the world are made by Fresenius Medical Care. The patients we serve range in age from infants to the elderly. We care for patients with diverse backgrounds and social circumstances, and all wish to live a life of meaning on their own terms. In addition to advancing medical science and our work in the field, we’ve learned a lot from being a trusted partner for patients:
- Patients desire more choices for treatment options and the power to decide which best supports their personal goals.
- Patients desire the chance to receive treatment at a location that is convenient to them.
- They want to stay connected to their own health information and to their care teams.
- Patients want to be productive and empowered, and not let the disease overcome their wish to contribute to their family and community.
- They expect the safest care possible with a minimum of side effects.
- Patients and doctors want the option of a kidney transplant whenever it is deemed the best option for kidney replacement therapy.
- Undeniably, social determinants of health — such as food security, stable housing, and social justice — have substantial effects on patient outcomes.
Over the course of their lifetime, individuals living with kidney disease will desire different treatment options that fit with their personal goals. Treatment offerings represent various levels of patient participation and different sites of care, including in-center and at-home options, at both earlier and later stages in the disease (Figure 2).
FIGURE 2 | Treatment options for an individual living with kidney disease
Today, Fresenius Medical Care’s clinical vision is to deliver the right treatment to the right patient at the right time — on the individual’s own terms. This requires breaking down the barriers between CKD and ESKD care so the continuum of these stages of kidney disease are recognized as an integral part of the lifetime journey of the patient with kidney disease. We are compelled to develop new therapies that are accessible, are cost effective, improve cardiovascular health, and offer improved outcomes.
A FORWARD-LOOKING STRATEGY
Healthcare innovations have enabled patients to live more energetic, productive lives. What might we offer to patients in the future?
- Dialysis treatments with a lower risk of bleeding?
- Surgical implantation of a blood vessel that becomes a patient’s own tissue over time?
- A device that automates the control of fluid removal to protect the heart and adjusts to the hemodynamics of the patient?
- Access to medications and therapies that afford a better chance of receiving and maintaining a functioning kidney transplant or an engineered organ?
Fresenius Medical Care is in the best position to move this clinical vision forward in the coming decade in the construct of our three-domain strategy: the Renal Care Continuum, Critical Care, and Complementary Assets. This three-domain strategy represents a path to transform delivery of healthcare and improve patient outcomes on a worldwide basis.
The company’s Clinical and Quality Agenda is the foundation for our medical leadership and brings to life our strategy. The agenda articulates a focus for our clinical vision, the priorities for our field, and the dimensions of collaboration within the organization. The agenda’s priorities help socialize the science of promising innovation, accelerate data-driven healthcare, expand research opportunities that advance medical practice, and support our partnership with physicians around the globe (Figure 3).
FIGURE 3 | The company’s Clinical and Quality Agenda is built around core themes and provides a framework to realize the company’s patient-centered mission.
Together with our business partners, the Global Medical Office drives progress that is thoughtfully planned, driven by science, and rooted in evidence. This focused approach paves the way for Fresenius Medical Care to address some of humanity’s most urgent healthcare needs. For the past quarter century, this has been our history, and it is the basis of our future.
