Fresenius Medical Care (NYSE: FMS), North America’s leading provider of kidney care services, announced today that its Dialysis Hospitalization Reduction (DHR) pilot has resulted in more than a 50 percent reduction in hospitalization rates, and a 50 percent reduction in hospitalization days among patients at high risk for hospitalization. The DHR pilot uses Fresenius Medical Care’s proprietary High Risk for Hospitalization Predictive Model to determine which of its dialysis patients stand the greatest risk of needing hospital care as a result of their chronic illnesses and co-morbidities. Once patients are identified, dedicated DHR care teams within their Fresenius Medical Care North America (FMCNA) clinic intervene, to learn and manage the patients’ specific care needs and preserve their health to prevent them from needing hospitalization.

“By identifying high risk patients in our clinics and their particular vulnerabilities, the DHR pilot enables our care teams to efficiently provide patients with customized care for problems that might otherwise go undetected and untreated,” said Dr. Frank Maddux, Chief Medical Officer, FMCNA.

Based on these successful clinical results, FMCNA intends to expand the DHR pilot to include more patients in more states across the country. Phase one of the pilot, which was conducted in five clinics in two states, resulted in a 51 percent reduction in hospitalization rates among high-risk patients over a six month period and a 50 percent drop in hospitalization days during this same period of time. Phase two of the pilot has expanded to 17 clinics in six states, and as the DHR process is refined, this activity will be expanded in phase three to test deployment at scale in additional clinics. FMCNA will review processes and outcomes from the DHR pilot to determine how it might be incorporated into its ongoing patient care.

About Fresenius Medical Care North America

Fresenius Medical Care North America is the premier health care company focused on providing the highest quality care to people with end stage renal disease (ESRD).

Through our leading network of more than 2,150 dialysis facilities, outpatient cardiac and vascular labs, and urgent care centers, as well as the largest practice of hospitalist and post-acute providers in the country, Fresenius Medical Care provides integrated and coordinated health care services to hundreds of thousands of patients in the United States, Mexico and Canada. As the only vertically integrated renal company in the world, we also provide specialty pharmacy and laboratory services, as well as manufacture and distribute the most comprehensive line of dialysis equipment, dialyzers and related disposable products and renal pharmaceuticals.