Dialyze Direct, LLC, a leading provider of staff-assisted home hemodialysis services in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) with an innovative model of care focused on geriatric dialysis patients, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Affiliated Dialysis Centers, LLC, an established dialysis provider in the Midwest.
Affiliated Dialysis Centers is an independent, pioneering, regional provider of dialysis services, established in 2002. Based in Illinois, Affiliated provides outpatient clinic dialysis, home dialysis and SNF dialysis services through its associated entities and currently services more than 400 patients.
This acquisition will elevate Affiliated's established and well-regarded SNF dialysis business to Dialyze Direct's unique outcome-driven model, which provides a comprehensive turn-key solution for SNF customers, addressing the needs of all stakeholders involved in the care for the geriatric dialysis population, including patients, SNFs, hospitals and payors.
This strategic combination is being effected during the changing tides in the U.S. healthcare industry, which is moving toward value-based care in an effort to reduce costs and hospitalizations while improving outcomes. The SNF industry is undergoing a similar metamorphosis as it prepares for CMS's recently announced Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM), which ties SNF reimbursements to patient mix with higher reimbursement rates for improved outcomes in medically complex patients. Dialyze Direct's unique model of care, which improves the patient's quality of care while reducing costs and hospitalizations, is perfectly aligned with these new value-based care priorities and places Dialyze Direct and its SNF customers in an ideal position to take advantage of the incentives provided by the new payment models.
The acquisition, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close by December 31, 2018.
"Dialyze Direct has succeeded in developing a model that provides the highest caliber of care to the most challenging and costly patient demographic. I believe that our sensitivity to ensuring patient dignity and our distinct model of innovative and compassionate care have been redefining both expectations and standards for on-site dialysis services and will become the standard for geriatric dialysis to SNF patients across the nation," said Henry Kauftheil, Chairman of Dialyze Direct.
"We are very pleased that Affiliated contacted us with this strategic opportunity and we believe that their enviable reputation and market leadership, as well as their ongoing commitment to ensuring a consistently superior patient experience make them an ideal partner as we continue to expand the Dialyze Direct footprint in the Midwest," said Mr. Kauftheil. "Our shared commitment to providing unprecedented procedural quality and positive outcomes will be bolstered by the core management and key positions at Affiliated, which are filled by healthcare & operations professionals with extensive experience in the dialysis arena."
"Affiliated is a patient-focused provider that has operated in the Illinois SNF dialysis market for many years, and we believe Dialyze Direct is the right company to take our patient care model to the next level in order to meet the needs of today's market" added Steve Bucher, Chairman of Affiliated Dialysis Centers. "We are excited to bring the innovative Dialyze Direct model to our patients and SNF customers and are confident that they will be provided with the highest caliber of care and service going forward. For us and for the ever-expanding number of patients in need of our services, nothing is more important."
About Dialyze Direct
Dialyze Direct LLC provides innovative and compassionate staff-assisted home hemodialysis services to the geriatric patients residing in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). Dialyze Direct's core mission is to improve the dignity and quality of life of geriatric patients with End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), while significantly reducing the overall costs of these patients to the healthcare system. Dialyze Direct delivers dialysis care with a gentler form of treatment built around more frequent dialysis sessions (pursuant to a physician's order) using the NxStage System One with modified treatment protocols. Dialyze Direct created a unique model of care combining direct oversight with enhanced and proprietary protocols and procedures specifically designed for geriatric ESRD patients in SNFs, through which Dialyze Direct has been able to achieve significantly improved outcomes in this population segment while reducing overall payor costs by eliminating transportation, minimizing re-hospitalizations, and improving the overall health of patients. Dialyze Direct currently provides services in Florida, Texas, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
About Affiliated Dialysis Centers
Affiliated Dialysis Centers is an Illinois-based dialysis provider, who was an early endorser of dialysis care in the SNF venue and has been a pioneer in the initial development of this care model. Thousands of ESRD patients' lives have been improved by being able to receive this life-sustaining care on-site in the SNF setting. ADC has provided care in Illinois and Ohio and looks forward to Dialyze Direct taking their approach to the next level and bringing it to a National scope.
