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November 8, 2011

What Happened to Innovation?


3 Comments to “What Happened to Innovation?”

  1. Karen Klinger said,

    November 16, 2011 @ 1:15 pm

    I agree that the technology of hemodialysis as well as peritoneal dialysis needs to be updated to the 21st century. The process needs to be more efficient and more accessible. The costs of transporting patients to outpatient dialysis centers and then dialyzing them three times a week is a huge burden on the Medicare system. More public awareness is needed for funding for new technology that would make the process more cost efficient. You are absolutely right, if we can make i phones and Kindles why cant we figure out a way make dialysis more portable too.

  2. James Madison said,

    November 16, 2011 @ 2:39 pm

    Agreed. There are numerous ideas out there that get shared when visiting with other colleagues. The rate limiting thought I keep having is whether new innovation creates a situation that increases costs, as ESA’s did, and serve to actually hurt the industry. The intense scrutiny brought on by the high costs of the meds hasn’t exactly been a catalyst for developing growth. Does Davita have a pathway for product development or concept development? How could these ideas be brought to market with Davita as a partner but with the inventor getting compensated?

  3. Allen Nissenson said,

    November 16, 2011 @ 2:54 pm

    Excellent points- the name of the game in a world of increasing demand and constrained resources is creating value- quality/cost. We currently have an approach to this including brainstorming ideas and working with other who have innovative concepts; designing evaluations that are rigorous but reflect real world situations, using the resources at DaVita Clinical Research; conducting pilots, often using experienced clinical trials sites or our VillageHealth disease management group; and then scaling what seems to work to improve care while continuing to control costs. Not a perfect approach but one that applies the concepts of translational research to the real world.


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