Our Mission
KECC measures and reports the quality of healthcare, seeks to improve the effectiveness of clinical practice, and informs national public policy regarding organ failure and treatment. This mission is pursued through interdisciplinary research with a focus on advances in biostatistics and clinical outcomes. Our organization empowers faculty and staff to be adaptable and interconnected; promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion; prioritizes continuous improvement; and enables exceptional educational opportunities.
About KECC
The University of Michigan Kidney Epidemiology and Cost Center (UM-KECC) is an interdisciplinary research group located at the University of Michigan's School of Public Health. Founded in 1993, we carry out research in epidemiology, public policy, economics, outcomes relating to End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), chronic kidney disease, kidney dialysis, and organ transplantation. Our projects are funded by multiple government and private sources, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Renal Research Institute, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons.
Our research involves statistical analysis of large data sets drawn from clinical and administrative data systems, and a number of our projects also involve primary data collection. We maintain a comprehensive historical database of about 3.1 million ESRD patients drawn primarily from Medicare data. We prepare extensive facility-specific reports for the 7,000 dialysis facilities in the U.S. and provide support for other University projects using Medicare claims data.
UM-KECC currently has over 60 full time staff members and 33 faculty investigators funded by approximately $11M in annual contracts. Our faculty are experts in Biostatistics, Cardiovascular Medicine, Epidemiology, Gastroenterology, Health Management and Policy, Internal Medicine, Nephrology, and Surgery, among others. In addition to executing critical contract deliverables for our sponsors, we provide our staff with meaningful work experience and career development and offer learning and research opportunities to medical fellows and graduate students. Our projects have provided the data and motivation for many dissertation topics and the development of methodological work in numerous areas.
Our Values
Integrity: We are open and honest with each other and our sponsors, and operate with scientific integrity. We understand that our work impacts people’s lives around the country and beyond, and we take this responsibility very seriously.
Accountability: We are each accountable for the quality of our own work, our team’s work, and the work of the organization. We acknowledge mistakes and collectively address them. We accurately reflect our costs and maintain the highest information security standards.
Teamwork: We collaborate to achieve common goals. All team members have both something to offer and something to learn.
Excellence: We exceed expectations. We rely on our expert and knowledgeable faculty, staff, and students to deliver high quality results. We strive for continuous improvement in all aspects of our work and operations.
Compassion: We care about the well-being of the people and patients affected by our work. We care about each other as individuals and value a work-life balance.
U-M KECC DEI Mission Statement
At the Kidney Epidemiology and Cost Center (UM-KECC), our commitment to measure and report the quality of healthcare, improve the effectiveness of clinical practice, and inform public policy is inseparable from our commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion. We strive to embody these values in our work and how we treat each other. Equity is necessary to activate the power of our diversity and create an inclusive organization that advances our collective capabilities. We affirm that racism is a public health crisis. In recognizing that long-standing inequities in the social determinants of health critically impact healthcare delivery and outcomes, we strive to reduce potential bias in our work that could have unintended consequences in care delivery or public policy. It is our collective responsibility at UM-KECC to actively challenge and respond to bias, harassment, and discrimination including but not limited to both personal and systemic racism, xenophobia, ableism, homophobia, sexism, classism, transphobia, and ageism. We strive to create an environment where people can challenge and report these instances without fear of retaliation. Our goal is a workplace that takes into account and respects all elements of the human experience. We aim to act with empathy at all times.
Diversity is a representation and intersectionality of our collective and individual identities, values, beliefs, and lived experiences. We welcome and promote the unique contributions that our staff, faculty, students, and other collaborators bring in terms of race, sex, gender identity and expression, nation of origin, age, languages spoken, veteran’s status, color, religion or beliefs, ability status, height, weight, sexual orientation, education, culture, and ethnicity.
Equity is a commitment to creating conditions that allow all people at UM-KECC to thrive as their authentic selves. UM-KECC commits to ensuring a policy of equitable opportunity for all persons and to actively challenge and respond to bias, harassment, and discrimination.
Inclusion is an empowering environment where every person is valued and supported to fully participate through purposeful, deliberate, and authentic efforts. Inclusion creates a cohesive dynamic by bringing together and empowering traditionally excluded voices into the decision-making processes. The ability to navigate diversity, like practicing empathy, is a skill that can be developed over time with cultural humility, intentionality, and knowledge.