Patients

Social responsibility for our patients is one of the most important non-financial aspects of our business. We fulfill this responsibility by attaching particular importance to the quality of care and patient satisfaction, customer health and product safety, as well as the protection of patients’ medical information.

For this reason, we have set out clear and consistent general principles regarding patient care for all members of staff who interact with patients treated in our own dialysis centers. According to these principles, clinical care must be consistent with national and international scientific guidelines, Fresenius Medical Care’s policy and the physician’s orders. Among other things, we expect all staff to:

• act ethically, fairly, courteously, competently and timely when dealing with patients,
• treat all patients with dignity and respect,
• involve patients and families in treatment planning and processes whenever appropriate,
• respond carefully and accurately to patients’ and families’ questions.

Fresenius Medical Care carries out patient surveys in selected countries with the aim of collecting information on patients’ experience, finding out where further improvements can be made and in which areas we should expand our services. The survey results are used to identify process improvements and consequently to improve patients’ quality of life and the care given to each individual patient.

As we highly value quality, honesty and integrity, we use our best efforts to handle patient data with the expected and appropriate care. This includes continuous attention and dedication to the protection of personal data that we process. As legal requirements differ throughout the world, we have established the Global Privacy Foundation, which specifies a consistent set of minimum requirements so that personal data is used appropriately throughout its life cycle.

In 2018, Fresenius Medical Care continued to further develop its global privacy program with a focus on its General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) readiness program so that our systems, databases and applications meet GDPR requirements.