Our founder, Risa Simon, is on a mission to empower the nation’s kidney patient population by inspiring them to proactively fight for a better quality of life. The life Risa now lives!
What ignites Risa’s passion? A personal calling to fix our kidney community’s broken patient engagement system. Risa knows firsthand how patient education models lack proactive engagement and encouragement. From delayed treatment discussions to over saturated dialysis education to fistula-first campaigns—patients are being robbed of their only chance to secure a preemptive kidney transplant.
Risa founded The Proactive Path to positively disrupt patient engagement for the lion share of kidney disease patients who could benefit from a preemptive transplant.
Risa knows the life-changing power behind proactive patient engagement. She used her own fear as a powerful motivator and pushed herself to explore beyond the sacred walls of her doctor’s exam room. Here Risa uncovered a whole new world of possibility. A world where one self-advocate, slow their disease progression and bypass dialysis by getting a transplant-first. This was a world full of hope and second chances. A world Risa never knew existed.
While Risa greatly benefited from these discoveries, she remained deeply troubled that a proactive path was rarely encouraged by kidney patient providers. This reality compelled her to pump up the volume on a more proactive path to better outcomes.
Fortunately, these discoveries snapped her out of her doctor’s hypnotic “you’ve got time” trance in time to start fighting for her best life possible—the life she now lives. Today you’ll find Risa marching full-steam-ahead, leading The Proactive Path and the TransplantFirst Academy to help patients who proactively want to live their best life possible.
Our Mission & Purpose
The Proactive Path’s mission is to encourage those who could benefit from a transplant to seek a better quality of life by securing a preemptive kidney transplant before they require dialysis. Our purpose is to boost patient voice and expand access to preemptive options.
Transplant options shouldn’t be introduced as kidney disease patients approach the precipice of needing dialysis. Likewise, learning about transplant shouldn’t be a herculean effort. Preemptive transplant opportunities can only be achieved when they are proactively introduced as the primary goal. It is a known fact that transplants offer superior outcomes. Hence, they should not be proposed as a workaround or afterthought late in the game. Early patient engagement is key!
Our hope is to empower kidney patient outcomes by dissolving the stifling haze hovering over proactive “no fly zones.” We stand strong on the patient’s right to know their best option, voice their choice and live their best life.
Who We Serve
The Proactive Path’s target audience includes kidney patients and kidney patient advocates, healthcare industries that support preemptive transplants and kidney transplant outcomes, renal groups, social workers, nurse coordinators, transplant centers, enlightened dialysis organizations and end stage renal disease (ESRD) networks, as well as divisions of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that provide or oversee kidney patient education.
Patient-Centric Goals
Our engagement platforms are rooted in patient-centricity first and foremost—and without exception. Our Goal is Simple. We encourage kidney patients to become their own best advocate and live their best life possible. We provide information and inspiration beyond the confines of an exam room. We do not provide medical advice, though we do provide a platform full of proactive “feel-good” patient engagement.
