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Case Study:

Developing a Roadmap to Enable Technology Innovation for Treating Kidney Diseases

Nexight Group helped the Kidney Health Initiative (KHI) develop an accelerated roadmap—in both traditional and digital format—for innovative approaches to renal (kidney) replacement therapy. The roadmap is actively enabling research, activities, and prize competitions that are advancing solutions that can improve the lives of over 850 million people with kidney diseases worldwide.

The Challenge

Increasingly Urgent Need for Innovation in Treatment of Kidney Diseases

Kidney diseases are a serious and under-recognized worldwide epidemic:

  • Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects about 10 percent of the population worldwide, including an estimated 1 in 7 adult Americans, and is projected to become the fifth most common cause of years of life lost globally by 2040
  • Methods for treating CKD—collectively referred to as renal replacement therapy (RRT)—have not changed significantly since the introduction of dialysis around 60 years ago
  • Current treatment options are time-consuming, are detrimental to patient well-being and quality of life, and have a significant economic impact on the United States, with Medicare treatment spending topping out at more than $90 billion annually

Recognizing the significant need for accelerated innovation and technology development in the RRT field, KHI committed to developing a technology roadmap to encourage innovative advances in RRT that could impact patients not only in the United States but also around the world. KHI enlisted Nexight for this effort based on our pioneering technology roadmapping expertise, coupled with our extensive experience supporting clients in the health and medicine fields.

Our Solution

Technology Roadmap Outlining Pathways for Developing Commercially Viable RRT Solutions

Initial Roadmap

Nexight Group worked with KHI and its key stakeholders to develop an accelerated Technology Roadmap for Innovative Approaches to Renal Replacement Therapy. To develop the roadmap, we:

  • Designed the roadmapping process and outline
  • Reviewed previously developed roadmap content and background information from KHI
  • Facilitated a series of calls with subject matter experts from the working groups to develop and refine content
  • Synthesized the content into a clear, accurate, and compellingly written and designed roadmap
  • Adjudicated and integrated suggestions from the roadmap public comment period

The roadmap—published in October 2018—outlines strategies and research pathways needed to more effectively and efficiently develop commercially viable RRT alternatives to current dialysis treatments and is distinguished by:

  • A patient-centered focus for improving quality of life
  • Opportunities for strong partnerships between the nephrology community and other external stakeholders to spur innovative thinking
  • Multiple solution pathways through which collaborative and focused research and development can accelerate innovation and technology development in the field
  • Common design requirements to ensure that solutions all meet the same minimum technical expectations

Digital Roadmap

Based on the community’s overwhelming response to the roadmap, KHI again engaged Nexight in 2022, this time to transform the roadmap into a website to make the content more accessible and updatable. To achieve this transformation, we:

  • Helped refresh critical roadmap content to ensure currency of key statistical insights, technology statuses, and community priorities
  • Developed an information architecture and content plan to map the existing roadmap content
  • Created functional wireframes and ensured design alignment with KHI branding and the original roadmap
  • Collaborated KHI’s IT team during code development, QA testing, and launch
Nexight case study KHI

Impact

The roadmap was a critical step forward in a field that has not changed significantly for the past 50 years. It has spurred significant activity within the RRT innovation space, including the Kidney Innovation Accelerator (KidneyX) prize competitions and other KHI initiatives.

The digital roadmap allows KHI to be a single source of truth for currency in the RRT field by more easily and regularly updating key roadmap content, including:

  • Kidney disease statistics
  • Progress made against R&D goals
  • Current technology advances being made by the community
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