IPRO has won four regional End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Network quality improvement contracts to support dialysis patients, families and providers in 13 states across the U.S. IPRO will be responsible for Network 1 (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts); Network 2 (New York); Network 6 (North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia – under protest); and Network 9 (Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky). IPRO was the incumbent ESRD Network contractor in New England and New York but is a first-time awardee in Networks 6 and 9. “We’re pleased and grateful that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) renewed our contracts in New York and New England while extending our Network leadership responsibilities to two other regions of the U.S.,” says IPRO Chief Executive Officer Theodore O. Will. The ESRD Networks, created by statutory mandate in 1978, were developed “to improve cost-effectiveness, ensure quality of care, encourage kidney transplantation and home dialysis, provide assistance to ESRD beneficiaries and providers, and increase ESRD Network Program accountability.” According to the CMS, ESRD beneficiaries make up less than one percent of the Medicare population, but account for 7.1 percent of total Medicare spending. “With the assistance of our large volunteer community, our organization will be responsible for supporting 117,000 patients, 1684 facilities and 52 transplant facilities, across the four regions,” says IPRO ESRD Network CEO Susan Caponi, RN, MBA. “That translates to one-quarter of our nation’s ESRD patient population.” CMS announced it is awarding a total of $110 million in five-year Medicare funding to seven entities nationwide.