Fresenius Medical Care North America, IKONA Health Receive Major Grant to Expand Virtual Reality Healthcare Education, Improve Access in Rural Mississippi - PR Newswire

• Grant allows partners to grow kidney illness acquisition task to agrarian Mississippi patients
• FMCNA implementing virtual world acquisition successful different states

, /PRNewswire/ -- Fresenius Medical Care North America (FMCNA), the nation's starring renal attraction provider, has won a large assistance from the Mississippi Department of Health's (DOH) Office of Rural Health and Primary Care to grow kidney acquisition done virtual world (VR).

The Mississippi DOH awarded FMCNA's attraction transportation arm, Fresenius Kidney Care (FKC), which serves patients done a nationwide web of dialysis centers and services, a assistance of much than $130,000 to amended patients successful agrarian Mississippi connected the advantages of location therapy utilizing the immersive acquisition of virtual reality. The VR simulation enables patients to enactment successful a patient's travel done location dialysis to assistance them amended recognize what location dialysis entails.

The assistance allows FKC to supply its dialysis centers successful Mississippi with virtual world headsets, and initially offers an immersive acquisition of a chap patient's travel to location dialysis. IKONA Health, an immersive learning institution and long-time spouse of FMCNA, volition besides make further acquisition modules for some patients and attraction teams.

"An archetypal diagnosis of chronic kidney illness tin beryllium daunting for patients. The virtual world acquisition for our patients is different mode we tin heighten our diligent acquisition and amusement them however to beryllium successful power of their treatment," said Dean Chan, Vice President of Kidney Care Advocates astatine Fresenius Kidney Care. "Expanding this innovative task into agrarian areas of Mississippi volition let our Kidney Care Advocates and attraction teams to connection patients successful underserved areas a much informed acquisition of the determination to determination to location therapy and assistance them beryllium successful."  

About 15% of adults successful the United States person chronic kidney illness (CKD), which could pb to extremity signifier renal illness (ESRD) and perchance necessitate dialysis treatment.¹ Home dialysis offers objective result benefits, amended prime of life, much independency for patients, and decreases the load and clip spent traveling to and from dialysis facilities.

The On-Demand Virtual Reality task was piloted successful Transitional Care Units (TCUs) by Fresenius Kidney Care with enactment from patients who requested further acquisition astir dialysis. FKC serves much than 7,500 patients successful 137 outpatient dialysis centers successful Mississippi. FKC and IKONA person already partnered to nutrient virtual world experiences for patients successful South Carolina, Illinois, and California.

"We are excited to grow this innovative level to agrarian communities, wherever patients tin greatly payment from decreased question clip and attraction duration with location therapy," said Tim Fitzpatrick, Co-founder and CEO of IKONA Health. "We person an accidental to standard effective, VR-based learning experiences to underserved communities to amended understanding, wellness literacy, and wide wellness outcomes."

In 1 of the modules, Julian, a diligent managing kidney illness based successful California, shows however his beingness changed since helium switched to location hemodialysis. Home therapy allows Julian much clip to travel, prosecute his hobbies, navigator steadfast nutrient astatine home, and negociate his enactment schedule. Julian shows viewers however helium dialyzes astatine location 5 times per week, with each league lasting 2 to 3 hours alternatively of traveling 4 hours each way, 3 times a week, for in-center treatment.

Home hemodialysis patients often execute amended wellness outcomes by dialyzing much often arsenic directed by a physician. More predominant dialysis amended mimics earthy kidney relation starring to 36% less prescriptions for humor unit medicine and improved five-year endurance rates.^2,3,4 Patients who dialyze much often are besides much apt to person transplants, with transplantation incidence accrued by 14% successful patients who usage location therapies.⁵

"Virtual world has the powerfulness to assistance radical dealing with CKD oregon ESRD to ideate the anticipation of location dialysis," Chan said. "This exertion shows america however patients tin amended their wellness and go much educated astir their treatment."

References

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Chronic Kidney Disease successful the United States, 2021. Atlanta, GA: US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2021.
2. Kotanko P, Garg AX, Depner T, et al. Effects of predominant hemodialysis connected humor pressure: Results from the randomized predominant hemodialysis web trials. Hemodial Int. 2015;19(3):386-401.
3. U.S. Renal Data System, USRDS 2015 Annual Data Report: Table 6.3.
4. Data source: NxStage diligent information connected file.
5. Weinhandl E, Liu J, Gilbertson D, Arneson T, Collins A. Transplant incidence successful predominant hemodialysis and matched thrice-weekly hemodialysis patients. Poster presented astatine National Kidney Foundation Spring Clinical Meeting, 2012.

About Fresenius Medical Care North America 

Fresenius Medical Care North America (FMCNA) is the premier healthcare institution focused connected providing the highest prime attraction to radical with renal and different chronic conditions. Through its industry-leading web of dialysis facilities and outpatient cardiac and vascular labs, Fresenius Medical Care North America provides coordinated healthcare services astatine pivotal attraction points for hundreds of thousands of chronically sick customers passim the continent. As the world's largest afloat integrated renal company, it offers specialty pharmacy and laboratory services, and manufactures and distributes the astir broad enactment of dialysis equipment, disposable products, and renal pharmaceuticals. For much information, sojourn the FMCNA website.

About IKONA Health

IKONA, Inc. is simply a learning level trusted by implicit 250 clinics to amended outcomes for radical with extremity signifier kidney illness (ESKD) utilizing virtual world and analytics. The company's adept squad of clinicians, patients, scientists, and technologists are gathering a pipeline of evidence-based learning products crossed analyzable 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 successful the 2022 GSV Cup. To larn much astir the company's ngo to motorboat 10 cardinal personalized learning journeys by 2030, delight sojourn the IKONA Health website.

Media Contact

Fresenius Medical Care North America
Scott Sayres
[email protected]
+1 (940) 297-5678

IKONA Health
Jacqueline Benintende                      
[email protected]

Henry Peck 
[email protected]

SOURCE Fresenius Medical Care Holdings, Inc.