CDRG Awarded United States Renal Data System (USRDS) Federal Contract

The Chronic Disease Research Group (CDRG) of the Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute (HHRI) has been selected to administer the United States Renal Data System (USRDS) federal contract. The USRDS is a national registry that collects, analyzes, and distributes information about chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in the United States.

In 2016, ESRD-related costs reached $35.4 billion – 7.2% of Medicare service expenditures overall. On average, care of patients on hemodialysis (HD) costs $90,971 per person, per year, with 5-year survival of only 42%. The mortality rate for HD patients is approximately triple the mortality rate for cancer patients aged 65-74 years. These figures demonstrate the importance of monitoring and analyzing ESRD-related data.

“We’re so excited to have our team contribute to the fight against kidney disease,” says Kirsten Johansen, MD, Director of the USRDS, Director of the Division of Nephrology at Hennepin Healthcare HCMC, Co-Director of CDRG, and Professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota, “Data collected and disseminated through the USRDS about kidney disease in the U.S., its treatment, and its impact will be used by patients, their doctors, kidney researchers, and the federal government to learn how to improve the care we provide for this devastating condition.”

USRDS collaborates with members of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), and the ESRD networks, sharing datasets and actively working to improve the accuracy of ESRD patient information.

CDRG was the federal contractor for the USRDS from 1999-2014 and is currently the federal contractor for the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR). CDRG has also received international recognition for its analyses of chronic disease states, including chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.

CDRG’s parent organization, HHRI, is a non-profit academic research foundation headquartered in Minneapolis, MN. In addition to Dr. Johansen, many members of the team who will work on the USRDS are also affiliated with the University of Minnesota School of Medicine.

More information about this contract will become available on CDRG’s website, as well as on its social media platforms Twitter and LinkedIn.

100% of the funding for this study is supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) of the NIH under Award Number 75N94019C00006. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views or imply endorsement of the NIH.

Photo Above:  Kirsten L. Johansen, MD (center), USRDS Director, will lead an NIH-funded nationwide effort on kidney disease surveillance, assisted by USRDS Deputy Director James B. Wetmore, MD, MS (left) and David T. Gilbertson, PhD (right), Project Director for the USRDS.

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Media Contact

Mona Shater
Marketing and Communications Manager
Chronic Disease Research Group
Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute
612.873.6823
mshater@cdrg.org