The KitNewCare project has achieved a significant milestone towards developing a robust and impactful benchmarking tool designed to measure and monitor sustainability in kidney care across Europe. This advancement comes as clinical sites and stakeholders reached a consensus on critical impact indicators and metrics that will be integrated into the forthcoming benchmarking dashboard.

The milestone was marked by a series of structured activities, including clinical site visits and intensive workshops involving healthcare professionals, managers, and benchmarking stakeholders. These collaborative engagements were essential in identifying, validating, and agreeing upon the data that will populate the benchmarking tool.

Four key impact areas were at the centre of the consensus-building efforts: health outcomes, social impacts, environmental impacts, and costs. Among the agreed-upon health outcomes, survival rates, transplantation rates, hospitalisation rates, infection rates, and quality-of-life measures such as the KDQOL SF-12 survey were identified as critical metrics. For social impacts, the participants underscored the importance of patient experiences captured through Kidney PREMs, along with staff and caregiver experiences.

Environmental impact measures prioritised for the benchmarking tool include climate change, human toxicity, resource use, and water use—considered pivotal in fostering sustainable kidney care practices. Cost considerations will encompass both direct and indirect costs, such as loss of labour productivity, treatment pathway costs, and overall resource usage.

Participants recognised data collection challenges such as sensitivity of certain health data, survey fatigue among patients, and practical difficulties in capturing detailed environmental and cost data. Strategies to overcome these barriers include automated data collection, centralised data reporting systems, and targeted administrative support.

‘A big thank you to KNC’s clinical sites and benchmarking group for your hard work and commitment. We really enjoyed the workshops with you. Your insights and contributions have truly helped to shape the core of the benchmarking tool and dashboard. We very much appreciate the time you have dedicated to the workshops despite your very busy work schedules and are looking forward to piloting the benchmarking tool and dashboard with you!’ said Aycan Yasar and Ingeborg Steinbach from the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare, lead authors of the milestone report.

Looking ahead, the project team will finalise data input methods, collaborate closely with software developers for the dashboard’s creation, and initiate piloting of the benchmarking tool from July 2025. This initiative marks a vital step towards achieving environmentally sustainable kidney care throughout Europe.

The full report is available here.

*Cover photo by Diva Plavalaguna.