Fresenius Kidney Care Leads Way in Patient Safety Program for Fourth Straight Year

For people living with kidney disease, health and safety are top priorities. The need for frequent access to the bloodstream while facing an often weakened immune system can put dialysis patients at risk for infection and other health complications.

For the fourth year in a row, Fresenius Kidney Care leads the industry in patient safety, maintaining its 5-Diamond status at 100 percent of its participating facilities in 2019.

"We are proud to set a consistent example for our industry and these results demonstrate our team’s dedication to the health and wellbeing of the patients we serve every day,” said Mike Asselta, President of Fresenius Kidney Care. "The 5-Diamond Patient Safety Program sets a vital standard of care for the health and safety of the nearly half million Americans who are receiving life-sustaining dialysis treatment."

The 5-Diamond program was developed to assist dialysis providers in focusing on safety in their facilities and aims to encourage a culture of safety among both patients and staff. The program consists of 15 safety modules, and each dialysis facility must complete five modules to be recognized as a 5-Diamond facility. For each consecutive year after, five more modules must be completed successfully in order to maintain this status.

While maintaining the 5-Diamond rating at all of its centers, Fresenius Kidney Care also increased its enrollment in the program, with 2,601 facilities participating in 2019 compared to the 2,498 facilities that participated in 2018.

“As we welcomed more than 100 new Fresenius Kidney Care facilities into the 5-Diamond program, we were able to achieve record-setting results and uphold our devotion to the safety of patients across the board,” said Asselta.

The program was developed and is administered by two of the 18 end stage renal disease (ESRD) networks in the U.S. and is endorsed by several renal organizations, including Fresenius Medical Care, the American Nephrology Nurses Association (ANNA), the National Renal Administrators Association (NRAA), and others.

In 2019, 42 percent of all dialysis providers participated in the 5-Diamond program, with Fresenius Kidney Care comprising 81 percent of the participating clinics across the nation. In its four years of enrollment in the 5-Diamond program, Fresenius Kidney Care has consistently outpaced dialysis providers nationwide, with 100 percent of its centers achieving 5-Diamond status in 2019.