Why is quality so decisive for Fresenius Medical Care? And what does the future of dialysis look like – both from a business and medical point of view? Dr. Tanja Maier, a nephrologist from Marburg in Germany talked to Dr. Ben J. Lipps, ceo of Fresenius Medical Care.
Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Ben J. Lipps (68) has been Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Management Board of Fresenius Medical Care since 1999. From 1985 to 1999 – he held several positions at Fresenius Medical Care. As u.s. citizen, Dr. Lipps has worked in the field of dialysis for more than 40 years. His name is closely associated both with the evolution of dialysis technology as it is today and with Fresenius Medical Care’s lead in the us market as well as other countries. Even after decades in management, Dr. Lipps still takes a unique personal interest in the well-being of patients who are treated in Fresenius Medical Care’s clinics or use the company’s products and services.
Nephrologist at the University of Marburg
Dr. Tanja Maier (41) is a clinical nephrologist at the University of Marburg in Germany. After studying medicine and earning her doctorate at Berlin’s Free University, she worked for eight years in the Department of Nephrology at the Charité, Campus Benjamin Franklin. While there, she completed her training to become a consultant in internal medicine with an emphasis on nephrology and internistic intensive care. Since 2004 she has been head of the Department of Nephrology at Marburg University’s hospital and responsible senior physician at the Marburg Transplant Center. Even in times of increasing economic and administrative requirements in her profession and the challenge of forging a network between hospitals, teaching and research, Dr. Maier sees the focus of her work in caring for and supporting patients.
T. Maier
DR. LIPPS, WOULD YOU MIND TAKING A BRIEF TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE WITH ME? WHAT WAS IT LIKE WHEN DIALYSIS WAS IN ITS INFANCY?
B. Lipps
During the early years of the mid 70s our research team made some breakthroughs in the treatment of kidney patients that paved the way for dialysis as it is today. Back then, more than 40 years ago, nephrology, the treatment of kidney disease, was still a very new branch of medicine. A few years later, we manufactured the first artificial hollow fiber membrane. I remember the close contact with patients at the time as being very special. In those days, we worked with a very small number of kidney patients.
T. Maier
SINCE WHEN HAS QUALITY BEEN THE TOP PRIORITY FOR YOU AND FRESENIUS MEDICAL CARE?
B. Lipps
It probably began back then. Since there were so few patients at the beginning, we doctors and engineers could offer them very intensive care, which resulted in a very close community. We were able to evaluate technological progress straight away; if we made mistakes, they happened in our immediate environment, and so quality became our most important consideration. And things have remained that way up to the present day.
T. Maier
HOW DID YOU EXPERIENCE THE DEVELOPMENT OF KIDNEY TREATMENT?
B. Lipps
It was a godsend for me to be able to participate in the construction of some of the first dialysis machines. At that time, we had very modest goals compared to today. You have to consider that up to the early 1970s, kidney failure was a death sentence. Over time, we were able to increase the life expectancy of patients by a month with the help of dialysis. One month became two, then three months, then years. Today it can even be decades.
T. Maier
DO YOU MEASURE YOUR SUCCESS SOLELY IN TERMS OF HOW MANY YEARS OF LIFE YOUR PATIENTS GAIN?
B. Lipps
No. Our goal is to make the lives of dialysis patients worth living. At first, of course, the focus was on prolonging their lives. But after the initial results, we could concentrate on making dialysis treatment as gentle as possible. The quality of the machines, drugs and methods at our disposal today are – to use a sports term – in a completely different league to those available to us a few decades ago, if they existed at all. While kidney failure is no longer a death sentence today, it is still a burden for dialysis patients. Our aim is to reduce this burden, and we are still working to achieve this, every day and every hour.
