Summary: Ubie and the American Kidney Fund (AKF) are collaborating to enhance Ubie’s AI-powered Symptom Checker for faster and more accurate kidney disease diagnosis, aiming to improve early treatment and patient outcomes.
Key Takeaways:
- Critical Need for Early Diagnosis: Most kidney disease diagnoses occur at late stages when symptoms are severe, underscoring the importance of early detection to improve patient outcomes and reduce the burden on the healthcare system.
- Real-World Validation: AKF and its ambassadors will provide feedback to refine Ubie’s AI tool, ensuring accuracy in diagnosing kidney disease and aligning the platform’s language with patient experiences.
- Addressing Health Disparities: The collaboration aims to improve access to kidney disease education and treatment, particularly for disadvantaged populations disproportionately affected by chronic kidney disease.
Ubie, a global healthcare AI platform that works at the intersection of patients, providers, and life sciences, and the American Kidney Fund (AKF) nonprofit announced a collaboration focused on assessing and fine-tuning Ubie’s Symptom Checker disease prediction AI with the goal of driving patients to faster diagnosis, allowing them to receive faster treatment earlier in the disease progression.
Speeding Up Kidney Disease Diagnosis
The need for accelerated diagnosis is critical, as most people diagnosed with kidney disease are in the late stages and need immediate attention since symptoms don’t appear until the kidneys are already badly damaged.
AKF and AKF Ambassadors living with kidney disease will assess and validate Ubie’s AI tool, imparting their knowledge and insights. Incorporating real-world patient feedback will allow Ubie to further increase the algorithm’s accuracy in diagnosing kidney disease, while also ensuring that language used on the platform is aligned with the community. Ubie will guide patients who receive a differential diagnosis of kidney disease on its free platform to AKF’s educational resources and comprehensive support services, the company says.
The Impact of Kidney Disease
Kidney diseases are a leading cause of death in the US, with chronic kidney disease (CKD) being the most common, affecting more than one in seven U.S. adults. Early diagnosis and treatment is critical to the survivability of patients. Shortening the timeline to diagnosis is even more pressing considering patients who progress to end-stage kidney disease (also known as kidney failure) face a shortage of donor organs. About 97% of people who develop kidney failure must start dialysis. The waiting list for a kidney can last years, and 13 people die every day while waiting.
“The AKF’s collaboration with Ubie will result in an important new tool to help those at risk seek an earlier and more accurate diagnosis, supporting our efforts to close access gaps in kidney disease and increase kidney health equity,” says LaVarne A. Burton, president and CEO of The American Kidney Fund. “Getting immediate access to education on kidney disease can empower patients to better understand how to live with the disease and its comorbidities.”
The burden of kidney disease is highest among historically disadvantaged populations. These populations often have limited access to healthcare and specialists, creating a barrier to diagnosis, treatment and education, which further increases disparities in health outcomes. The risk of CKD is even greater for those with diabetes or high blood pressure, the two most common causes of kidney disease, accounting for two out of three new cases. Nearly one in three people with diabetes and one in five people with high blood pressure have kidney disease.
About the New Partnership
The partnership will help improve access to trusted information about the cause of a patient’s kidney disease, providing clear and actionable information, and the ability to get much needed treatment much sooner than the status quo, the organization’s say.
“Ubie is constantly pushing the boundaries of accuracy in AI. We fine-tune our Symptom Checker disease by disease to ensure that we are providing a tool that can speed access to patients anywhere in the U.S.,” says Kota Kubo, Ubie co-founder and co-CEO. “Partnering with the American Kidney Fund, with their unparalleled understanding of the patient voice, helps us build even better products. Together, we share a vision of a future where technology empowers patients to take control of their health.”
Ubie is dedicated to advancing healthcare by leveraging cutting-edge disease prediction technology to enhance patient care navigation, treatment and overall health outcomes. The company’s patient-facing Symptom Checker is used by more than 10M patients each month to get personalized guidance on health concerns and identify best care options.CKD can be treated to stop disease progression and, hopefully, prevent kidney failure. However, there is no cure, and kidney damage cannot be reversed. The earlier kidney disease can be addressed, the less damaged a patient’s kidneys will be.
