DaVita Celebrates 2017 Innovations and Achievements

DENVER, Jan. 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- DaVita Inc. (NYSE: DVA), a leading provider of kidney care services in the United States and in 11 countries around the world, today released a recap of the company's most notable 2017 achievements, marking its 17^th year bringing high standards of care to patients around the world.

"Every year brings both change and challenges, but through intentionality, our teammates continue to yield achievements that we are proud of," said Kent Thiry, chairman and CEO of DaVita. "It's not easy, but our mission is to care for our world, each other, and help our patients live the highest quality of life possible."

DaVita's top 2017 milestones and achievements include:

Clinical Leadership and Patient Care

Government Report Shows DaVita Has Top Clinical Outcomes – For the fourth year in a row, DaVita ranked first in outcomes in a report issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) end stage renal disease (ESRD) Quality Incentive Program (QIP).

DaVita VillageHealth Receives Disease Management Recertification – DaVita VillageHealth received a three-year recertification award from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) under the Disease Management Certification. Through collaborative care coordination and education, DaVita VillageHealth offers personalized care to help address the individual needs of every patient.

CAPG's Standards of Excellence™ Award – This year, The Everett Clinic in Washington, and HealthCare Partners in California, both DaVita Medical Groups, were awarded CAPG's Standards of Excellence™ (SOE®) Elite awards. Physician groups that receive this distinction go above and beyond to provide effective, high-value, patient-centered care that aligns with national quality standards.

DaVita Selected To Participate in New ACO Model – DaVita was chosen as one of 28 new Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) participating in Medicare's Next Generation ACO Model. Through the Model, DaVita will work with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Innovation Center (CMS Innovation Center) to provide Medicare Fee-For-Service beneficiaries with quality care, while reducing growth in Medicare expenditures through enhanced care coordination.

Improved Patient Care

CMS Recognizes Integrated Care in DaVita's First Performance Year – ESRD Seamless Care Organizations (ESCOs) like DaVita achieved savings of $75 million during the first performance year of the pilot program, suggesting that the renal community is uniquely positioned to deliver success on a large scale, which would positively benefit patients, the health care system and participating providers.

DaVita Rallies Support in Urging Congress to Pass PATIENTS Demonstration Act – Over the past decade, multiple models have proven the effectiveness of integrated care for dialysis patients. The bipartisan Dialysis PATIENTS Act builds on these historical models to allow broader scaling of integrated care. To date, there are more than 120 co-sponsors of the bill.

DaVita Responds to Numerous, Catastrophic Natural Disasters in 2017 – DaVita teammates responded to several natural disasters in 2017, including Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, both of which collectively impacted more than 34,000 patients, teammates and their families. Clinics in hurricane-impacted areas were given $2,500 each to give within their community where there was the most need – this culminated in nearly $1 million in donations given to disaster relief this year.

Patient Educational Videos Launch – DaVita Kidney Care launched a series of videos to offer a fun, user-friendly way to educate patients and caregivers on topics such transplants, diet and nutrition.

Lifeline Vascular Access® Celebrates Continued Positive Patient Impact – A study of Medicare data, published in the most recent issue of the Journal of Vascular Access, shows that DaVita's subsidiary Lifeline Vascular Access® significantly improves patients' dialysis outcomes. Among other improved outcomes, patients who received care in a Lifeline Vascular Access® managed center had a 9.4 percent lower annual mortality rate than those treated in all other freestanding office-based centers.

DaVita Helps Raise Awareness of Patient Mental Health – Joining the efforts of Mental Health America's annual "May is Mental Health Month," DaVita worked to educate patients about the importance that mental health plays in an individual's overall well-being. DaVita social workers screen patients for depression twice a year in an effort to ensure patients are receiving the best possible quality of care and living the highest quality of life.

Business Growth and Acquisitions

DaVita Medical Group Acquires IPA Network – DaVita Medical Group, a division of DaVita Inc. and a leading independent medical group in the United States, announced the acquisition of Northwest Physicians Network (NPN), a respected independent physician association (IPA) network in the Pacific Northwest.

DaVita Medical Group Acquires Additional Physician Practices – DaVita acquired Dr. Rahn Shaw's practices, Park Avenue Medical, Inc. and Winter Park Health Center, Inc., each located in Orlando. Dr. Shaw has been an affiliate with DaVita Medical Group since 2005.

DaVita Acquired Purity Dialysis – DaVita acquired the Wisconsin-based Purity Dialysis. Purity Dialysis operates ten dialysis centers in the greater Milwaukee area and provides out-patient hemodialysis and in-home peritoneal dialysis training.

DaVita Finalizes Acquisition of Mountain View Medical Group – Mountain View Medical Group is an independent physician group in Colorado Springs with 50 physicians providing services that include family medicine, internal medicine, neurology, OB-GYN, pediatrics and podiatry. The group operates 14 medical office locations that care for more than 80,000 patients.

DaVita VillageHealth® Manages 64,000 Renal Patients – DaVita VillageHealth continued to grow its commercial and government operations with more than 10 health plan and health system partnerships, eight Medicare Advantage Special Needs Plans and three ESRD Seamless Care Organizations. DaVita's renal population health division actively manages 64,000 renal patients, with nearly 7,000 at-risk patients.

Paladina Health Increases Number of Patients Served – Paladina Health, a direct primary care medical home subsidiary of DaVita Inc., offered primary care services for an eligible population of over 90,000 covered lives, an increase of over 42,000 from the year prior. The company opened seven new locations serving six new clients, including expansion into Ohio. Care is provided throughout 50 locations across 11 states.

Village Awards

In 2017, DaVita won over 40 major awards, including the following:

Business Excellence

FORTUNE® Magazine's World's Most Admired Companies – For the 10th consecutive year, and 11th year overall, DaVita was named among the World's Most Admired Companies by Fortune® Magazine.

100 Most Influential People in Health Care – Kent Thiry was ranked No. 31 among the most influential people in U.S. health care by Modern Healthcare. DaVita believes this list should be called the "most influential companies in health care" because this recognition is both a testament to its teammates' hard work and commitment to patients, as well as an indication of the growing acknowledgment of the contributions DaVita makes to the health care industry and to the world at large.

Freedom-Centered Workplace – For the 10^th straight year, DaVita was ranked among the world's most freedom-centered workplaces by WorldBlu.

Caring for Our Patients

DaVita Clinical Research® Wins CRO Leadership Awards – DaVita Clinical Research (DCR) was awarded multiple Life Science Leader's 2017 CRO Leadership Awards. DCR received an award in each of the five categories: capabilities, compatibility, expertise, quality and reliability as rated by decision-making executives at biopharmaceutical companies.

eHealthcare Leadership Award – DaVita was presented with a gold eHealthcare Leadership Award for DaVita.com/DietHelper in the "consumer/disease-focused" site category.

National Health Information Awards – DaVita received a bronze award for the DaVita Eats video series.

Awarded Medal of Excellence from American Association of Kidney Patients – A DaVita teammate, Facility Administrator Philip Varughese received a medal of excellence for the role he has played in supporting scientific progress on behalf of patients in the renal community.

Caring for Each Other

Top Workplaces – DaVita was named to the Colorado Top Workplaces list for the sixth consecutive year. The company also received the Tampa Bay Top Workplace award for the seventh consecutive year.

2017 Training Top 125 – For the 13th consecutive year, Training Magazine named DaVita a leading organization that offers exceptional workforce training and leadership development programs.

Becker's Hospital Review 150 Great Places to Work in Healthcare – DaVita was named as one of the 150 Great Places to Work in Healthcare for the fourth year in a row.

LearningElite – DaVita was recognized as a Silver LearningElite organization in 2017 by Chief Learning Officer magazine for creating and implementing exemplary teammate development practices that deliver measurable business value.

Best Clinical/Top Doctors lists – Many physicians and clinics of HealthCare Partners and The Everett Clinic were named "Top Docs" or best medical facilities by community newspapers and business journals.

Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles – For the first time, DaVita's many health and wellness programs – including Village Vitality, HealthyWage and Match the Mayor – were recognized as among the best by the National Business Group on Health.

Military Awards

Best for Vets – DaVita was recognized by Military Times Edge as a "Best for Vets" employer for the eighth consecutive year.

Top Veteran-Friendly Companies – DaVita was honored as a top veteran-friendly company by U.S. Veterans Magazine for the fifth consecutive year.

Most Valuable Employer for Military – For the seventh year in a row, CivilianJobs.com named DaVita as a Most Valuable Employer for Military.

G.I. Jobs Military Friendly – DaVita was named a Military Friendly company by G.I. Jobs for the eighth consecutive year.

Clinical Innovation and Research

DaVita Introduces DaVita® Health Solutions – The DaVita Health Solutions care model expands primary care outside of the traditional doctor's office setting to treat patients when and where they need care most: in the home, at a post-acute skilled nursing facility (SNF) or within a dialysis center for patients who suffer from end stage renal disease (ESRD).

DaVita Medical Insights Launches Podcast for Physicians – The podcast is presented in partnership with the DaVita Medical Insights blog, launched in August 2016. DaVita Medical Insights aims to bring the physician community together and provide a platform to discuss patient care and the shifting landscape of health care. Discussions cover topics including news and issues, clinical care, industry trends, practice management, and research and innovation.

DaVita Clinical Research Continues to Grow Alliance Site Network for CKD Trials – DaVita expanded its research services to include an Alliance Site Network, a turnkey solution for pharmaceutical companies seeking high-quality, dedicated research sites that specialize in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and comorbid conditions directly related to CKD, but who are not yet on dialysis.

DaVita Clinical Research Featured at American Society of Nephrology Kidney Week – Researchers from DaVita Clinical Research (DCR) and DaVita Kidney Care presented results from several retrospective studies and shared data from innovative clinical improvement programs. The data originated from DCR and its independent research partners in the academic, pharmaceutical and biotech research communities.

Teammate Support

DaVita Ranked on Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index – DaVita received its highest score yet on the 2018 Corporate Equality Index, a national benchmarking survey and report on corporate policies and practices related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) workplace equality administered by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).

DaVita Supports Teammates with Military Background – Over the past seven years, DaVita has hired more than 2,500 veterans. The "Village Veterans" programs encourage new veteran teammates to receive mentorship from company leaders as they transition to new roles within the company, and include:

Veterans 2 Village (V2V) is a two-day class introduced in 2016 that focuses on self-development and introduces new veteran teammates to DaVita's existing military programs and benefits. DaVita's internal veterans' programs are designed to foster a stronger community for new veteran teammates, as the company's support services continue to develop and grow.
Thriving after Military Service (TAMS) is a five-day workshop, facilitated by a Marine Corps veteran, which takes an in-depth approach to self-development and includes the option to bring a guest. DaVita veteran teammates who have graduated from TAMS may become Veteran Guides for V2V and facilitate group discussions and class activities.
Veteran Guides are a group of teammates hand-selected from the TAMS graduate group to help facilitate the V2V live course. A one-day training is provided to help teammates understand how to guide table conversations and lead group discussions. Mentors are organically formed from the relationships created at the V2V program, and teammates attending V2V are encouraged to stay in contact with their Veteran Guides.

Corporate Citizenship, Education, Empowerment

DaVita Donates More than $2.2 Million to Nonprofits Across the Country – For the seventh year in a row, the DaVita Way of Giving campaign has given clinical teammates throughout the U.S. the opportunity to directly donate to nonprofits in their communities. Since 2011, teammates have directed donations of nearly $11.3 million through the program.

Tour DaVita^® Raises over $1.2 Million for Global Kidney Care and Kidney Disease Prevention Efforts – More than 600 riders participated in the 11th Tour DaVita, DaVita's annual charity bike ride, which raised over $1.2 million to support Bridge of Life. Bridge of Life serves thousands of men, women and children around the world through kidney care, primary care, education and prevention and medically supported camps for kids.

DaVita Achieves Goal of Majority Diverse Board – DaVita's eleven member board of directors now includes three women and four minority men, making DaVita's board one of the most diverse of any Fortune 1000 company.

DaVita Service Event Sets GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ Title – During the company's annual Villagewide meeting, more than 3,500 DaVita teammates hand-built and donated 979 bikes to children from Denver-area schools. This set the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title for most bicycles donated to charity in one hour.

DaVita Reports on Corporate Social Responsibility and Innovation – DaVita released its 2016 Community Care Report, which highlights progress on key initiatives supporting the company's vision for corporate social responsibility (CSR) – the Trilogy of Care: Caring for Our Patients, Caring for Each Other and Caring for Our World.

DaVita Partners with Denver Post for Season to Share Fundraising Campaign – Replacing previous sponsor, the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, DaVita has pledged to match 50 percent of donations raised by the campaign, which will give grants to more than 45 Denver-area agencies that serve in the areas of children and youth, health and hunger and homelessness and hunger.

DaVita Celebrates 10 Years of Sustainability – DaVita's corporate sustainability program Village Green was created in 2007 with the goal of reducing the environmental impact of the company's operations in field facilities and in business offices. Village Green also educates both teammates and patients on the environmental impact of these changes and what they can do to help.

About DaVita Inc.
DaVita Inc., a Fortune 500® company, is the parent company of DaVita Kidney Care and DaVita Medical Group. DaVita Kidney Care is a leading provider of kidney care in the United States, delivering dialysis services to patients with chronic kidney failure and end stage renal disease. As of Sept. 30, 2017, DaVita Kidney Care operated or provided administrative services at 2,470 outpatient dialysis centers located in the United States serving approximately 196,000 patients. The company also operated 230 outpatient dialysis centers located in 11 countries outside the United States. DaVita Medical Group manages and operates medical groups and affiliated physician networks in California, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Washington in its pursuit to deliver excellent-quality health care in a dignified and compassionate manner. DaVita Medical Group's teammates, employed clinicians and affiliated clinicians provided care for approximately 1.7 million patients. For more information, please visit DaVita.com/About