American Kidney Fund Partners with Backpack Health® to Help Kidney Patients Better Manage Their Medical Records

ROCKVILLE, Md. (October 15, 2020) — The American Kidney Fund (AKF) today announced a new partnership with Backpack Health®, a service of Konica Minolta. This partnership offers a secure mobile and web-based personal health records management service to enable individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD, or kidney failure) to better maintain their health records and receive educational information about their condition. AKF's group on Backpack Health is dedicated to kidney disease and kidney patients — the first such group for the kidney community on the innovative digital platform.

Individuals with CKD and ESRD often need to share medical information among a wide range of health providers as they manage their complex disease. Kidney patients typically have multiple comorbidities — particularly diabetes and hypertension — so they often take many prescription medications daily and are under the care of specialists such as nephrologists, endocrinologists, and cardiologists, as well as allied health professionals like renal dietitians. Additionally, kidney patients often have family members and care partners who help them manage their disease — all of whom may need access to the patient's health information.

Through the AKF Backpack Health group, kidney patients and their caregivers will be able to consolidate all their health information, including lab results and medication information, into one convenient, private and secure cloud-based "backpack." Just like a real backpack, Backpack Health is portable. The multilingual app allows users to securely carry around what matters most – comprehensive medical information accessible at any time and easily shared with care teams using the platform's Share Card feature.

Patients may have their health information automatically downloaded into their Backpack from various patient portals maintained by many health care providers and may choose to share this information as needed. Physicians can use the platform to retrieve new patients' medical information, update existing patients' records and see the medical records from patients' appointments with other physicians and specialists, enabling a more holistic approach to care.

Members of AKF's Backpack Health group will also have access to AKF's award-winning educational content about CKD and ESRD, have opportunities to participate in surveys to help fill gaps in the unmet needs of kidney patients, and learn about opportunities to participate in clinical trials. All information contained in a member's account can be easily translated into multiple languages, removing potential language barriers between patients and physicians.

"This partnership with Backpack Health promises to help the patient community we serve to simplify some of the administrative side of living with a chronic illness," said LaVarne A. Burton, AKF president and CEO. "As members of the AKF Backpack Health group, they will be able to easily share and track their health information and join our online community dedicated to helping them live their healthiest lives possible."

"It is our honor to support individuals living with kidney disease by offering advanced technology that empowers patients and their caregivers to take control of their health information," said Dr. Matthew Silva, Chief Executive Officer of Invicro and Board Member of Konica Minolta Precision Medicine. "Our mission is to develop and deploy industry-leading technologies and biomarkers that improve healthcare and connect users through the Backpack Health  platform."

The AKF kidney disease group in Backpack Health is open for anyone to opt-in and is free to join at join.backpackhealth.com/akf.