Policy leader joins Monogram to help accelerate transformation of care for kidney disease patients

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — April 12, 2021 — Monogram Health today announced the appointment of Seema Verma, MPH, to its board of directors. Verma, former administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), joins the board as Monogram continues to expand its national footprint to transform care for kidney disease patients across the U.S.

“We are delighted to welcome Seema Verma to our board as an independent director. Her recent work at CMS to improve kidney disease patients’ access to high-quality, coordinated care aligns directly with our company’s purpose and brings an invaluable perspective to our board,” said Sen. Bill Frist, M.D., Monogram Health’s board chairman. “Seema shares our deep commitment to detecting and slowing progression of kidney disease, improving quality of life and empowering patients to make informed choices about their renal care.”

A leading expert on health policy and value-based care, Verma was the longest-tenured administrator of CMS in modern history. She oversaw a budget of more than $1.3 trillion and health insurance programs for more than 140 million Americans. Verma also served on the White House COVID-19 Task Force, where she led efforts to drive telehealth and remote care across the health care system while creating flexibility for health providers to augment the health care workforce, expand services and testing, and ensure access to vaccines and therapeutics. Modern Healthcare ranked Verma as The Most Influential Person in Healthcare in 2019 and one of the Top 25 Women Leaders in Healthcare.

“Traditional models for paying for kidney disease care have failed to innovate and put patients first,” said Verma. “More must be done to improve outcomes and quality of life for patients with this devasting disease, including encouraging transplants and home-based dialysis. Monogram Health is tackling the challenge head-on with a data-driven, evidence-based model focused solely on caring for patients at home. I look forward to supporting this important work to bring meaningful change and a better life for patients with kidney disease.”

As part of her work at CMS, Verma launched the Kidney Care Choices (KCC) Model in 2020. The program seeks to improve the lives of beneficiaries suffering from kidney disease, expand their treatment options, and reduce their healthcare costs. The KCC Model is just one example of Verma’s leadership at CMS that drove innovation to strengthen kidney health. Additionally, Verma spearheaded efforts to introduce transparency and competition into the organ procurement process in order to increase the supply of lifesaving organs available for transplant.

In 2019, Verma received the President’s Medal from the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) for her work on the Advancing American Kidney Health initiative that promotes ASN’s mission to prevent, treat, and cure kidney diseases throughout the world by educating health professionals and scientists, advancing research and innovation, communicating new knowledge, and advocating for the highest quality care for patients.

Monogram Health is an innovative company focused exclusively on managing chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) at home. The company partners with health plans to provide their members with an evidence-based renal care model and data-driven array of care management services, including complex case and disease management, utilization management and medication therapy management.

Monogram also deploys in-home renal care through its virtual Kidney Care Clinic, which provides in-home and virtual visits conducted by a team of kidney-focused physicians, nurse practitioners and other clinicians. The clinic’s telehealth capabilities enable greater access to specialists for all kidney disease patients, including those living in remote or rural areas.  

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), 20 percent — or $114 billion — of traditional Medicare expenditures go toward Americans with kidney disease, a growing population that now totals more than 30 million.

About Seema Verma

At CMS, Seema Verma was the architect of CMS’s strategic vision, implementing over 16 tactical initiatives aimed at transforming the American healthcare system to lower costs, improve quality, and increase access. During her tenure, Verma led federal government efforts to infuse market competition, empower consumers, and unleash innovation producing historic reforms. She also drove efforts to require price and quality transparency while ensuring consumers have ownership over their portable medical records.

Verma’s historic “Patients Over Paperwork” initiative reduced regulatory burden and saved the healthcare system billions of dollars. Verma also worked to accelerate value-based care transformation and address the social determinants of health by advancing new payment models throughout CMS programs, including models for drug pricing that resulted in lower insulin prices. Under her leadership, premiums dropped in Medicare Advantage, Part D, and the insurance exchanges. In response to COVID-19, she led industry-changing efforts to drive telehealth and remote care across the healthcare system while creating flexibility for health providers to augment the health care workforce, expand services and testing, and ensure access to vaccines and therapeutics.

Prior to CMS, Verma was the founder and CEO of a health policy consulting firm helping states and private industry on a range of healthcare issues. Verma received her BS in life sciences from the University of Maryland and her Master of Public Health (MPH) with a concentration in health policy and management from Johns Hopkins University.

About Monogram Health   

Monogram Health is a leading kidney-disease focused benefit management and care delivery company. It provides an innovative renal care model and data-driven array of clinical managed services, including complex case and disease management, utilization management and medication therapy management to transform the delivery of care received by patients living with chronic kidney and end-stage renal disease. Partnering with health plans, physician practices, dialysis providers and clinically integrated health systems, Monogram Health provides patients with exceptional at-home individualized clinical managed services and Nephrology care delivery. Through the use of next generation artificial intelligence, evidence-based criteria and personalized care planning, Monogram Health’s model seeks to delay the progression of the disease, promote a seamless transition to dialysis, palliative care and/or pre-emptive kidney transplant and optimize health outcomes for patients with end-stage renal disease. Based in Nashville, Tenn. and privately held by Frist Cressey Ventures and Norwest Venture Partners, Monogram Health currently operates its renal disease benefit management programs and care delivery across 20 states in the U.S. and has built a national network of nephrologists that includes hundreds of leading kidney care specialists. To learn more about Monogram Health, please visit here.