By Andrew Wall
President and Chief Operating Officer
Published April 24, 2020
The Sunday New York Times ran an attention-grabbing front-page news story. The article “An Overlooked, Possibly Fatal Coronavirus Crisis: A Dire Need for Kidney Dialysis,” rings the alarm bell on an unsettling development in hospitals across the country; of the COVID-19 patients who end up in the ICU, 20% to 40% had developed acute #kidney disease and required emergency dialysis to survive.
Very few of the patients had a pre-existing condition such as diabetes or hypertension that would put them at risk for kidney disease. It is unclear whether COVID-19 is causing acute kidney disease or if the kidneys are shutting down, like other organs, as a patient’s condition deteriorates. We don’t yet know the short and long-term health effects COVID-19 acute kidney disease will have on survivors.
A report commissioned by America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) estimates health plan costs associated with COVID-19 to range from $56 billion to $556 billion. These cost estimates do not include the long-term costs of caring for patients who may experience chronic healthcare issues as a result of their infection.
We need to get our arms around this growing population of COVID-19 acute kidney disease survivors right now. Population Health Management, and Kidney Health Management specifically, provides a path forward.
Specialty Population Health Management by Healthmap Solutions, and our Kidney Health Management program were specifically designed and built for this very challenge.
We’ve already begun to execute as we partner with major health plans and providers throughout the U.S. to make a difference. Our team is ready to work with health plans and healthcare providers who, like us, see the emerging clinical and financial challenges and want to act now to get ahead of them. Contact us.
To stay informed and up-to-date, follow us @healthmapcare and on LinkedIn and Facebook.
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