- Grant allows partners to expand kidney disease education
project to rural Mississippi
patients
- FMCNA implementing virtual reality education in other
states
WALTHAM,
Mass., Jan. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/
-- Fresenius Medical Care North America (FMCNA), the nation's
leading renal care provider, has won a major grant from the
Mississippi Department of Health's (DOH) Office of Rural Health and
Primary Care to expand kidney education through virtual reality
(VR).
The Mississippi DOH awarded FMCNA's care delivery arm, Fresenius
Kidney Care (FKC), which serves patients through a nationwide
network of dialysis centers and services, a grant of more than
$130,000 to educate patients in rural
Mississippi on the advantages of
home therapy using the immersive experience of virtual reality. The
VR simulation enables patients to participate in a patient's
journey through home dialysis to help them better understand what
home dialysis entails.
The grant allows FKC to provide its dialysis centers in
Mississippi with virtual reality
headsets, and initially offers an immersive experience of a fellow
patient's journey to home dialysis. IKONA Health, an immersive
learning company and long-time partner of FMCNA, will also develop
additional educational modules for both patients and care
teams.
"An initial diagnosis of chronic kidney disease can be daunting
for patients. The virtual reality education for our patients is
another way we can enhance our patient education and show them how
to be in control of their treatment," said Dean Chan, Vice President of Kidney Care
Advocates at Fresenius Kidney Care. "Expanding this innovative
project into rural areas of Mississippi will allow our Kidney Care
Advocates and care teams to offer patients in underserved areas a
more informed experience of the decision to move to home therapy
and help them be successful."
About 15% of adults in the United
States have chronic kidney disease (CKD), which could lead
to end stage renal disease (ESRD) and potentially require dialysis
treatment.1 Home dialysis offers clinical outcome
benefits, better quality of life, more independence for patients,
and decreases the burden and time spent traveling to and from
dialysis facilities.
The On-Demand Virtual Reality project was piloted in
Transitional Care Units (TCUs) by Fresenius Kidney Care with
support from patients who requested additional education about
dialysis. FKC serves more than 7,500 patients in 137 outpatient
dialysis centers in Mississippi.
FKC and IKONA have already partnered to produce virtual reality
experiences for patients in South
Carolina, Illinois, and
California.
"We are excited to expand this innovative platform to rural
communities, where patients can greatly benefit from decreased
travel time and treatment duration with home therapy," said
Tim Fitzpatrick, Co-founder and CEO
of IKONA Health. "We have an opportunity to scale effective,
VR-based learning experiences to underserved communities to improve
understanding, health literacy, and overall health outcomes."
In one of the modules, Julian, a patient managing kidney disease
based in California, shows how his
life changed since he switched to home hemodialysis. Home therapy
allows Julian more time to travel, pursue his hobbies, cook healthy
food at home, and manage his work schedule. Julian shows viewers
how he dialyzes at home five times per week, with each session
lasting two to three hours instead of traveling four hours each
way, three times a week, for in-center treatment.
Home hemodialysis patients often achieve better health outcomes
by dialyzing more frequently as directed by a physician. More
frequent dialysis better mimics natural kidney function leading to
36% fewer prescriptions for blood pressure medication and improved
five-year survival rates.2,3,4 Patients who dialyze
more frequently are also more likely to receive transplants, with
transplantation incidence increased by 14% in patients who use home
therapies.5
"Virtual reality has the power to help people dealing with CKD
or ESRD to imagine the possibility of home dialysis," Chan said.
"This technology shows us how patients can improve their health and
become more educated about their treatment."
References
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Chronic Kidney
Disease in the United States,
2021. Atlanta, GA: US Department
of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention; 2021.
- Kotanko P, Garg AX, Depner T, et al. Effects of frequent
hemodialysis on blood pressure: Results from the randomized
frequent hemodialysis network trials. Hemodial Int.
2015;19(3):386-401.
- U.S. Renal Data System, USRDS 2015 Annual Data Report: Table
6.3.
- Data source: NxStage patient data on file.
- Weinhandl E, Liu J, Gilbertson D, Arneson T, Collins A.
Transplant incidence in frequent hemodialysis and matched
thrice-weekly hemodialysis patients. Poster presented at National
Kidney Foundation Spring Clinical Meeting, 2012.
About Fresenius Medical Care North
America
Fresenius Medical Care North America (FMCNA) is the premier
healthcare company focused on providing the highest quality care to
people with renal and other chronic conditions. Through its
industry-leading network of dialysis facilities and outpatient
cardiac and vascular labs, Fresenius Medical Care North America
provides coordinated healthcare services at pivotal care points for
hundreds of thousands of chronically ill customers throughout the
continent. As the world's largest fully integrated renal company,
it offers specialty pharmacy and laboratory services, and
manufactures and distributes the most comprehensive line of
dialysis equipment, disposable products, and renal pharmaceuticals.
For more information, visit the FMCNA website.
About IKONA Health
IKONA, Inc. is a learning platform trusted by over 250 clinics
to improve outcomes for people with end stage kidney disease (ESKD)
using virtual reality and analytics. The company's expert team of
clinicians, patients, scientists, and technologists are building a
pipeline of evidence-based learning products across complex chronic
areas, including ESKD, Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD),
Transplantation, Diabetes Mellitus and more. IKONA is funded by the
National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, StartUp Health,
On Deck, NVIDIA and was named a Top 200 EdTech Startup globally in
the 2022 GSV Cup. To learn more about the company's mission to
launch 10 million personalized learning journeys by 2030, please
visit the IKONA Health website.
Media Contact
Fresenius Medical Care North America
Scott Sayres
Scott.Sayres@FreseniusMedicalCare.com
+1 (940) 297-5678
IKONA Health
Jacqueline
Benintende
jacquelyn@ikona.health
Henry Peck
Henry@ikona.health
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SOURCE Fresenius Medical Care Holdings, Inc.