BAD HOMBURG, Germany—Fresenius Medical Care has reached a cooperation agreement with the public health authorities in the Murcia region of Spain for the country’s first comprehensive dialysis care and performance-oriented reimbursement model.
Under this agreement, Fresenius will provide dialysis therapy to approximately 200 renal patients in Murcia. The contract will be effective from mid-2011.
Similar to the system introduced in Portugal three years ago, reimbursement will be converted to an all-inclusive “bundled” rate that is tied to Fresenius’ quality performance. The company currently provides dialysis treatment and related products to patients in the region of Murcia on a “fee-for-service” basis.
“As a vertically integrated dialysis company with longstanding experience, we are the right partner for successful, long-term cooperation with public health authorities such as those in Murcia and other payors,” said Dr. Emanuele Gatti, chief executive officer for Europe, Latin America, Middle East and Africa as well as global chief strategist of Fresenius Medical Care said. “Together we can make a lasting improvement in the quality of dialysis patients’ lives while helping ease the current strain on budgets by making health care spending more efficient.”
Fresenius is the largest private dialysis provider in Spain, with annual revenues of approximately $270 million from patient care and dialysis products. Currently, the company provides dialysis treatment to more than 5,500 patients in 64 dialysis clinics.
According to the Spanish Society of Nephrology, about 1,100 patients per 1 million individuals need renal replacement therapy in Spain in the form of dialysis or transplantation to survive. The Murcia region, located on the Mediterranean coast in the southeast, is one of the country's 17 autonomous communities. In Spain, regional governments are responsible for the administration of health, social and other services.
