DaVita’s Patient-Focused Quality Pyramid: Looking Beyond the Traditional Model of Care

The end stage renal disease program has a 40-year legacy of providing life-sustaining care to countless vulnerable patients with otherwise fatal kidney disease. There has been an intense focus on aspects of care delivered in the dialysis center, including anemia management, renal bone disease treatment, nutrition planning and the transition to vascular access. These critically important aspects of care must be provided at the highest level of quality.

At DaVita, we recently took a step back and spent considerable time speaking with kidney care patients about what is important to them. The results were no surprise — patients want to live longer. And they want to live the highest-quality, most productive lives possible, while spending time with family and friends and contributing to society. We took this input to heart and created the Patient-Focused Quality of Life Pyramid to help center our efforts for kidney care patients going forward.

The pyramid was conceived from the top down — the goal is to improve the patients’ quality of life. In order to accomplish this, we need to decrease mortality and hospitalizations while enhancing the patient-care experience. To achieve these improvements, we must focus on complex clinical initiatives, including fluid management, infection control, medication management and diabetes management. In turn, we must maintain the foundational excellence in anemia management, renal bone disease treatment and other areas to support the entire pyramid. If we succeed, patients’ lives will be enhanced and the public’s trust will be upheld.