Local dialysis provider National Renal Care (NRC) has become the first kidney care organisation in South Africa and globally to achieve Level 1 Enterprise Accreditation from the International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement (ICHOM).
The accreditation recognises NRC’s organisation-wide implementation of ICHOM’s approach to measuring the health outcomes that matter most to patients across its network of 85 NRC units.
“This landmark recognition of NRC’s commitment to delivering value-based healthcare establishes a pioneering foundation for continuously improving the quality of care provided to patients receiving renal care,” says Dr Chevon Clark, chief executive officer of National Renal Care.
“For people living with chronic kidney disease and receiving dialysis, this means measuring a wider range of indicators to better understand the outcomes that shape a person’s everyday life beyond treatment alone.”
Alongside traditional clinical measures for evaluating care, ICHOM’s accreditation acknowledges that NRC’s network measures outcomes encompassing each person’s health, wellbeing, functioning, symptoms, treatment experience and quality of life, providing a more complete picture of the impact of care.
ICHOM, an international non-profit organisation founded in 2012 by health researchers from Harvard Business School, Boston Consulting Group, and Karolinska Institute, aims to drive global adoption of patient-centred outcome measurement to benchmark and improve healthcare quality.
NRC centres around the country provide a lifeline for people living with kidney failure through dialysis, a therapy that artificially performs the kidneys’ function of purifying the blood and removing waste. NRC units offer in-centre haemodialysis, home haemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, pre-dialysis education and support.
Measuring healthcare quality
“This ICHOM accreditation affirms that NRC patients’ experiences of renal care and the outcomes that matter to them are fundamental measures of healthcare quality. This systematic approach allows us to better understand the impact of kidney disease and dialysis from the patient’s perspective alongside clinical outcomes, and to identify opportunities to further improve care,” Dr Clark says.
The accredited outcome measures within NRC units have the added advantage of further empowering renal patients to be active partners in their healthcare. This builds on existing resources such as the NRC app, which includes medical records and support such as exercises, meal planning, a renal plate scan feature to calculate nutritional value, fluid intake tracking, and symptom monitoring.
“Over time, consistently measuring and using outcomes can support more meaningful conversations between patients and their healthcare teams, ensuring shared decision making and a greater focus on what each patient values most,” she explains.
NRC’s accreditation represents an important step in its transition towards value-based healthcare, where value is increasingly understood through the outcomes achieved for patients.
“Our responsibility extends beyond delivering dialysis safely and effectively. We need to understand whether the care we provide is improving the outcomes and quality of life that matter to our patients,” she says.
Informing better care
“ICHOM provides a globally standardised framework through which we can bring the patient’s voice together with clinical outcomes. For healthcare professionals, this creates an opportunity to learn from our data and continually improve care,” Dr Clark says.
“We are deeply invested in helping the people we care for feel well enough to make more happy memories with their loved ones and to enjoy life to the fullest for many years to come,” she says.
NRC’s achievement of ICHOM Level 1 Enterprise Accreditation reflects the collective contribution of patients and healthcare teams across the organisation, and a shared commitment to quality care.
Dr Clark thanked the multidisciplinary teams for their dedication in successfully implementing the comprehensive outcome measurements necessary to qualify for the accreditation. “Most of all, we appreciate how patients have embraced the opportunity to actively participate in achieving the outcomes they value,” she says.
“We see this accreditation as a catalyst for ongoing innovation that truly extends the possibilities for a better life for every patient,” Dr Clark concludes.
Visit https://www.nrc.co.za for more information.
Ends
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Issued by: MNA on behalf of National Renal Care
For media enquiries Martina Nicholson, Meggan Saville, Estene Lotriet-Vorster,
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