Kidney care provider Strive Health partners with Ohio insurer Medical Mutual

Strive Health, a value-based kidney care provider, is set to provide services to insurer Medical Mutual’s 1.2 million members under a new partnership announced Tuesday.

Strive estimates that more than 10,000 patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) of Medical Mutual’s 1.2 million members may benefit from its services, regardless of whether the coverage is provided through individual, Medicare Advantage, or commercial group health plans. The partnership between the Denver-based provider and the Ohio insurer began last summer. Strive declined to share how many members have since enrolled in the effort.

“What we do is what you would want done for your mom or your dad—or your grandfather or grandmother,” Strive co-founder and CEO Christopher Riopelle told Healthcare Brew. “In our country today, we fail patients who are in late-stage kidney disease. There is very little intervention and engagement of these patients prior to their kidneys actually failing.”

CKD corrodes the kidney’s ability to filter waste from blood and produce urine. If left untreated, it can evolve into ESKD, which could require dialysis to filter the kidneys or an organ transplant, according to the Mayo Clinic. In 2023, the CDC estimated that 35.5 million people in the US have CKD.

The kidney disease provider operates under a value-based model—in which patient outcomes rather than number of procedures drive profits—and relies on in-house computer models to help diagnose kidney disease early. The model has led to a 42% reduction in hospitalizations, according to Strive’s press release, which compared 2021 data from the US Renal Data System Annual Data Report to the company’s patient data.

Strive’s proprietary tech, called CareMultiplier, uses a cluster of 40 computer models to analyze patient data—such as past lab results or vulnerability scores—to identify kidney disease earlier, Farhad Modarai, Strive’s chief clinical officer of population health, told Healthcare Brew. The provider then offers care to eligible members through telehealth or in-person treatment.

“We want to work as upstream as possible,” he said. “Then we can kind of get some insight into what’s driving the underlying chronic kidney disease and how we slow it down, and hopefully prevent the progression.”

Riopelle declined to comment on whether Medical Mutual pays for Strive’s services, but said that Strive’s total healthcare spend, which spans 34 states, is about $3.8 billion. He also said the company aims to treat patients in all 50 states by the end of the year.

The partnership with Medical Mutual isn’t Strive’s first step into Ohio. The kidney care provider already offers direct care through Bon Secours Mercy Health, one of the largest healthcare systems in the country, but Riopelle estimates that the approximately 10,000 new patients from Medical Mutual’s membership would increase the total number of patients under Strive’s care in Ohio by 70%.

To meet the increasing demand, he said that Strive, which employs 800 workers, has increased its Ohio team to 50 members, including 40 in clinical roles.

“We have deep roots in Ohio,” Riopelle said. “And we wanted to go deeper.”