Everly Health and National Kidney Foundation Partnership Aims to Save Lives Through Early Detection of Chronic Kidney Disease
Program drives increased education and access to high-quality testing for early detection to protect kidney health and lower healthcare costs
Everly Health, a remote-based healthcare company expanding access to virtual-first disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, has entered an educational partnership with the National Kidney Foundation aimed at informing Americans about chronic kidney disease and increasing access to screening in rural and underserved communities across the United States.
Kidney disease affects 37 million adults in the United States but 90% are unaware they even have it which makes it a silent killer.1 Together, Everly Health and the National Kidney Foundation will educate Americans on the importance of early detection and awareness to empower individuals with knowledge about their kidney health, promoting better health outcomes.
“We are excited to partner with Everly Health to expand education on chronic kidney disease and two of its major risk factors, diabetes and hypertension,” said Joseph Vassalotti, MD, Chief Medical Officer at the National Kidney Foundation. “These two risk factors alone account for or contribute to over two-thirds of cases, and our collaboration emphasizes the importance of early screening and awareness, a vital step in proactive health management.”
Everly Health is also expanding its diabetes monitoring and kidney health testing suite for health plans and employers through its enterprise division, Everly Health Solutions. The industry-first testing suite takes a comprehensive look at conditions that impact kidney health including diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. The new test suite includes Heart and Kidney Health Test, Diabetes Monitoring Test, Kidney Health Test, and Heart Health Test as part of preventive care screening.
“For millions of Americans, diabetes and high blood pressure double their risk of chronic kidney disease, a silently progressing threat that can devastate lives. A proactive screening can catch kidney issues early, before serious damage occurs,” said Dr. Liz Kwo, MD, MPH, MBA, Chief Commercial Officer at Everly Health Solutions. “By partnering with the National Kidney Foundation and expanding access to these life-saving tests, we are empowering patients to prevent kidney problems and live healthier, longer lives.”
The expanded testing suite helps close two Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) measures set by the National Committee of Quality Assurance (NCQA) with one customizable solution, and increase the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Star Ratings for health plans who utilize this testing suite with enhanced care coordination and improved member experiences. The testing suite measures a range of biomarkers through two collection methods–a single blood sample collection for HbA1c to check blood sugar levels that could indicate prediabetes or diabetes, a cholesterol and lipid panel, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and a urine sample collection for urine albumin-creatinine ratio (UACR).
Everly Health Solutions and a national health plan recently launched a kidney health pilot program to distribute Everly Health’s Kidney Health Tests to over 10,000 members. Results from the pilot showed effectiveness in detecting kidney health marker abnormalities and potentially preventing progression of renal diseases, leading to better health outcomes for members and financial savings for the health plan.
