Report finds limited benefit from virtual CKD programs and calls for earlier diagnosis and treatment
(NEW YORK CITY, NY – September 28, 2026) — A recent assessment of programs serving people with later-stage kidney disease underscores the need to find and treat chronic kidney disease (CKD) much earlier, the National Kidney Foundation (NKF) said today. NKF is urging health plans and policymakers to make earlier care a priority and points to its CKDintercept initiative as one way to help health systems and primary care teams put that approach into practice.
The assessment, released this month by the Peterson Health Technology Institute (PHTI), found no consistent evidence that the virtual CKD management programs it assessed slowed disease progression or reduced overall health care spending, although they helped some patients begin dialysis in a planned setting. PHTI recommended earlier identification, greater involvement of primary care, and increased use of guideline-recommended medications.
“The PHTI report should not be read as a rejection of value-based kidney care. It should be read as a roadmap for where kidney value-based care must go next,” said Marc Hurlbert, PhD, chief executive officer of the National Kidney Foundation. “Later-stage kidney interventions matter, but if we want better outcomes for patients and better value for payors, employers, and the federal government, we must intervene earlier in the course of chronic kidney disease.”
The need to act earlier is substantial: PHTI estimates that 87% of people with CKD do not know they have it. NKF’s Coalition for Kidney Health has called for payment models that help primary care teams identify people at risk, complete recommended kidney testing, assess patients’ risk, and begin appropriate treatment sooner. Its white paper, A Vision for Value-Based Approaches to Early Kidney Disease Prevention and Management, offers specific recommendations for bringing those steps into value-based care.
NKF is putting earlier kidney care into practice through CKDintercept, its award-winning care transformation initiative. Working with health systems, primary care practices, payers, public health agencies, and other clinical partners, CKDintercept helps identify people at risk, close gaps in the blood and urine testing used to detect CKD, assess patients’ risk, and connect them with recommended treatment.
Now active in 25 states, CKDintercept is driving measurable change in kidney care and expanding access to proven strategies that improve outcomes, reduce disparities, and advance kidney health for millions of Americans without adding to providers’ workloads. Scaling the National Kidney Foundation’s CKDintercept initiative is one way to help address some of the issues raised by the PHTI Assessment.
“PHTI has raised a fair question for everyone working in kidney care: Are our programs changing outcomes, or are we mainly managing the consequences of late diagnosis? CKDintercept is NKF’s effort to change where kidney care begins by bringing detection and treatment into primary care. We should judge that work by whether more people are identified in time to receive care that can preserve their kidney function,” added Dr. Hurlbert.
Additionally, NKF is urging federal policymakers, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Medicare Advantage plans, employers, health systems, and value-based care organizations to act on the PHTI findings. That means investing in earlier detection and treatment, supporting primary care teams, measuring outcomes that matter to patients, and expanding approaches that identify kidney disease before it advances.
Through the Coalition for Kidney Health and CKDintercept, NKF will continue working with policymakers, health plans, and care teams to turn the report’s recommendations into changes in everyday care—and to measure whether those changes help more people protect their kidney health.
About Kidney Disease:
In the United States, CKD remains an under-recognized public health burden that impacts 1 in 7 adults, and 90 percent of those affected are unaware of their condition. Approximately 1 in 3 U.S. adults are at risk for CKD, but less than 20% are assessed with guideline-recommended testing, eGFR and uACR. Risk factors for kidney disease include diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and family history. People of Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian American, or Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander descent are at increased risk for developing the disease. Black or African American people are about four times as likely as White people to develop kidney failure. Hispanic and Native American people experience kidney failure at approximately double the rate of White people.
About the National Kidney Foundation:
The National Kidney Foundation is revolutionizing the fight to save lives by eliminating preventable kidney disease, accelerating innovation for the dignity of the patient experience, and dismantling structural inequities in kidney care, dialysis, and transplantation. For more information about NKF, visit www.kidney.org.
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For Media Inquiries:
Paul McGee (716) 523-6874 or paul.mcgee@kidney.org