DENVER, April 19, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- DaVita Inc. (NYSE:DVA), a leading independent medical group and a leading provider of kidney care services in the United States, today announced the release of its 2017 Community Care report, which highlights key clinical, operational and corporate social responsibility (CSR) achievements in the past year.

"It is humbling and fulfilling to see the sum of our teammates' impact each year in caring for our patients and each other," said Kent Thiry, chairman and CEO of DaVita. "We will continue working towards our vision of global citizenship by spreading ripples in communities locally and around the world."

The report, available at DaVita.com/CommunityCare, outlines the ways DaVita cares for its patients, each other and the world. The company's approach to CSR helps support industry-leading clinical outcomes, award-winning leadership development programs, multiple goodwill initiatives and a commitment to environmental sustainability. Highlights from the 2017 report include the following:

Caring for Our Patients

DaVita Kidney Care supports approximately 220,000 kidney patients nationally and internationally and continuously works to improve its integrated, patient-centered care model to provide high quality care. Guided by a strong compliance program, the company's approach offers preventive care and also addresses the health and lifestyle complexities of chronic conditions.

Providing Quality Care

DaVita continuously works to improve the quality of care, and its standards have been recognized publicly by the federal government. For the 5th year in a row, DaVita Kidney Care had the highest percentage of centers that met or exceeded CMS' Quality Incentive Program (QIP) standards.

Providing care to more than 5,000 patients, DaVita's three end stage renal disease (ESRD) Seamless Care Organizations achieved 100 percent quality reporting scores, experienced a 13 percent reduction in hospital readmissions and saved $4,868 per patient per year.

Supporting Kidney Transplantation

DaVita helps people with kidney disease understand their full range of treatment options, including transplantation. Robust data analytics are used to track the education and transplant status of ESRD patients to help eligible patients set goals around transplantation and to understand their reasons for refusing referral to transplantation or to understand their reasons for refusing referral to transplant. With this information, Transplant Smart, a DaVita educational program, will launch in 2018. The program—composed of micro-learning educational modules that leverage principles of adult learning and specific work-flow triggers—will aim to increase the number of patients referred to receive a transplant, as well as the number who remain active on the waitlist and ultimately receive a transplant.

International

Located in 12 countries, DaVita is dedicated to improving health care for kidney patients abroad. In 2017, the company achieved several milestones across the globe:

• Doubled operations in Brazil to 18 centers (including a vascular access center)
• Committed to provide dialysis for cruises in Germany
• Started 5,000 patients on a CKD education program in Colombia
• Acquired 44 centers in Poland
• Launched a new dialysis nurse training program in Saudi Arabia

Complex Care Programs

The country's largest kidney care provider accredited by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), DaVita VillageHealth has led the industry in providing integrated kidney care for more than two decades. In 2017, DaVita VillageHealth achieved several milestones:

• 25 percent lower hospitalization rate than the industry average
• 51 percent lower readmission rate than the industry average
• Up to 21 percent addressable cost savings over four years

Caring for Each Other

DaVita provides unique opportunities for teammates to succeed at work and at home through leadership and development, veteran support, education scholarships for children and grandchildren, and support in times of crisis.

Leadership Development and Continuing Education

Through DaVita's award-winning training programs, thousands of people learn, grow and become stronger citizens within DaVita, at home and in their communities. DaVita encourages all teammates to learn their potential and holds the belief that anyone, in any role, can be a leader.

Commitment to Veterans

DaVita has long been committed to honoring retired and active-duty service members and works to help make sure they feel welcome in their community. Through workshops and development courses, the company helps veterans transition to civilian life. In 2017, more veterans than ever were accepted into Veterans 2 Village (V2V), which focuses on self-development, community service and transition skills. V2V is a three-day class designed to honor, energize and connect Village Veterans. The internal veterans' programs are designed to foster a stronger community for new veteran teammates, as support services continue to develop and grow.

Encouraging All Voices

DaVita is deeply committed to engaging its teammates in dialogue about company's objectives and their role in helping shape the future of health care. DaVita has several channels for two-way communication with senior leadership. During Voice of the Village Calls, senior leaders report on the state of the company, and teammates are encouraged to ask questions about any subject.

In 2017, DaVita teammates submitted more than 1,150 ideas to Idea Hub, an incubator for innovation and a place where teammates' ideas have the opportunity to directly impact projects that help to improve operations.

Support in Times of Need

DaVita invests in helping improve the lives of teammates and their families. To help them manage change in their personal lives, the company created a wide range of programs to support them emotionally and financially.

DaVita Children's Foundation, KT Family Foundation and the Woody Brittain Scholarship provide scholarships to teammates' children and grandchildren who excel in leadership, community service and academics.

The DaVita Village Network (DVN) provides teammates and their dependents financial assistance during times of crisis such as natural disasters, medical or funeral expenses and financial hardships such as deployment. All eligible teammates have the option to make voluntary payroll contributions to fund the program. For every approved grant, DaVita contributes the same amount as the teammate payroll contribution, up to $250,000 per year.

Caring for Our World

DaVita teammates across 12 countries are working toward building a better world through service projects, outreach initiatives, charitable contributions and a continued focus on sustainability.

Bridge of Life

Bridge of Life (BOL) is an international nonprofit organization founded by DaVita that's working to improve health, wellness and vitality. BOL has expanded its efforts beyond kidney care to include screening and prevention of chronic illnesses and increased access to primary care services. It strives to empower local staff, community health workers and patients through training and education to make sustainable changes to health care. Since 2006, BOL has completed 155 international medical missions in 26 countries and more than 300 domestic screenings and events, which have affected more than 110,000 lives.

Service and Outreach

At DaVita, volunteerism and community service are built into company culture. Teammates' commitment to service extends well beyond the bounds of their centers. Every year, teams come together and spend hundreds of hours volunteering to improve their communities and world around them.

In 2017, DaVita celebrated the 11th anniversary of Tour DaVita, an annual, three-day, 250-mile bicycle ride to raise awareness about kidney disease. The ride through Washington raised $1.25 million to benefit Bridge of Life.

Dynamic Volunteerism

Dynamic Volunteerism was created as a local initiative in DaVita's hometown of Denver, with the purpose of using the unique skillsets of its teammates, individually and collectively, to support nonprofits and help them perform at a higher level. Teams are mobilized to assist in areas as specific as strategic planning, corporate development, board development, IT consultancy, coaching, capacity building, staffing and more. This targeted volunteerism leads to systemic improvements and changes within the nonprofits in the community.

Sustainability

DaVita continues to help improve patients' and teammates' health and quality of life while reducing its environmental footprint. 2017 marked the 10th anniversary of Village Green, DaVita's initiative to promote environmental sustainability in centers and offices around the world. Several milestones were achieved in 2017.

DaVita received LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certifications on two buildings this year, giving DaVita 623,000 square feet of LEED-certified space. The company offered its first in-house prep class for teammates taking their LEED credential exam.

Through water conservation efforts at dialysis centers, DaVita has saved 643 million gallons since 2013. This is the equivalent of 975 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Since 2016, DaVita has diverted more than 354,000 pounds of electronic waste from the landfill. This equates to the weight of 27 elephants. Through recycling and reuse programs, the energy saved is equivalent to powering 3,096 homes for a year, or removing 5,330 cars from the road.

About DaVita Kidney Care
DaVita Kidney Care is a division of DaVita Inc., a Fortune 500® company, that through its operating divisions provides a variety of health care services to patient populations throughout the United States and abroad. A leading provider of dialysis services in the United States, DaVita Kidney Care treats patients with chronic kidney failure and end stage renal disease. DaVita Kidney Care strives to improve patients' quality of life by innovating clinical care, and by offering integrated treatment plans, personalized care teams and convenient health-management services. As of Dec. 31, 2017, DaVita Kidney Care operated or provided administrative services at 2,510 outpatient dialysis centers located in the United States serving approximately 198,000 patients. The company also operated 237 outpatient dialysis centers located in 11 countries outside the United States. DaVita Kidney Care supports numerous programs dedicated to creating positive, sustainable change in communities around the world. The company's leadership development initiatives and social responsibility efforts have been recognized by Fortune, Modern Healthcare, Newsweek and WorldBlu. For more information, please visit DaVita.com.

Contact Information

Caitlyn Major
Caitlyn.major@davita.com 
303.876.7547

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SOURCE DaVita Inc.