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With nearly 100,000 Americans on the kidney transplant waitlist, the 2026 KidneyX Empower Prize Challenge from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services seeks to nurture the development of patient-centered innovations that improve care coordination and nephrological disease and transplantation research.
HHS said KidneyX's goals include reducing the long-term fiscal burden on Medicare by prioritizing transplants over chronic dialysis and improving data interoperability to enhance kidney transplant and donor patient care.
WHY IT MATTERS
HHS said that living kidney donations have remained stagnant for about two decades, with fewer than 7,000 kidney donations made annually.
"Living kidney donation delivers some of the best outcomes for patients with kidney failure, yet avoidable barriers still stand in the way," said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., in the announcement on Wednesday.
"Through the $4 million KidneyX EMPOWER Prize Challenge, we are calling on innovators to remove those barriers and expand access to patient-centered, equitable donation – so more Americans can live longer, healthier lives."
The KidneyX Empower challenge focuses on five pillars to improve living donations:
- Public awareness and mentorship: Develop participatory, community-based models to better identify and support potential living donors.
- Donor interventions: Create educational tools to reassure donors about outcomes and address fears of surgery or long-term health risks.
- Donor readiness and eligibility: Provide tools to help potential donors overcome barriers, including body mass index management, smoking cessation and financial planning.
- Donor-centered outcomes: Implement monitoring strategies and data collection efforts to support donors in their long-term health and well-being journeys after their kidney donation, helping provide reassurance and improved outcomes.
- Center practices: Focus on the sharing of knowledge, such as successful best practices that reduce administrative barriers and delays across a broader geographic area.
"Innovation in kidney care must begin with the experiences of patients and living donors," said Samir Parikh, president of the American Society of Nephrology (ASN), in a statement. "By fostering innovations that empower living donors and streamline the process, we are not only better supporting Americans who save the lives of others, but also reducing the long-term burden on the Medicare program, safeguarding both our nation's kidney health and its fiscal future."
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology is also taking a role in modernizing data standards across the nephrology field, according to HHS. ONC will work with ASN to ensure seamless, secure communication between patients, donors and clinicians.
"Data and technology play a critical role in supporting patients, donors and clinicians across the transplant ecosystem," said Dr. Thomas Keane, the National Coordinator for Health IT. "By fostering innovation through this challenge and advancing more seamless, interoperable data exchange, we can help ensure that individuals have the information and tools they need to make informed decisions and receive high-quality, coordinated care."
HHS is hosting webinars for those interested in participating on April 29 and May 12, and submissions are due by June 15.
THE LARGER TREND
On Thursday, Rep. Carol Miller, R-West Virginia, asked during a session of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, the first congressional session of the year featuring the health secretary, about the disproportionate burden of chronic disease in rural states.
In particular, she asked Kennedy about ensuring that Medicare policies support innovation and access to life-saving treatments for patients with kidney disease and specific Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services payment rules related to end-stage renal disease.
"I am concerned, however, that in the case of kidney disease, the current ESRD bundle may inadvertently discourage the development [and] adoption of new therapies and technologies that could improve outcomes and reduce long-term costs for patients who do rely on life-sustaining dialysis," she said during the session and in a statement posted to her website.
Complicated policy "has resulted in promising, innovative drugs being pulled from the market entirely or only being accessible by a tiny fraction of the patients," she added.
In 2021, the previous Trump administration shifted Medicare payments from traditional fee-for-service payments to a value-based payment model to encourage both home dialysis and kidney transplants. The following year, ESRD facilities in hospitals got a 3.3% payment bump.
Miller also spoke about outcomes constituents in her state have experienced and said that the Kidney Care Access Protection Act could expand access to new treatments "in a way that both encourages innovation and ensures costs remain well-managed for Medicare and taxpayers."
"I don't know enough about the renal disease aspect in the bundle, but I'm happy to work with you," Kennedy responded. "Also, get somebody from [CMS Director Dr. Mehmet Oz's] team to come over and talk to you directly."
ON THE RECORD
"Through the $4 million KidneyX EMPOWER Prize Challenge, we are calling on innovators to remove those barriers and expand access to patient-centered, equitable donation – so more Americans can live longer, healthier lives," Kennedy said in a statement.
Andrea Fox is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Email: afox@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.
