Between and , in Northern California, Kaiser Permanente helped reduce prevalence of smoking among its members by 25 per cent , compared with a 7. Smoking cessation interventions have been combined with a range of other interventions — from primary and secondary prevention through to acute care and the management of chronic illness — to form a systematic approach to the prevention and treatment of heart disease across Kaiser Permanente member populations.
Among its members in Northern California, the rate of heart disease mortality decreased by 26 per cent from to , and members were 30 per cent less likely to die from heart disease than other Californians in It also provides financial support for food banks and other food assistance programmes.
In schools and community centres, Kaiser Permanente runs a range of educational theatre programmes using music, comedy and drama to help educate children and adults about their health and wellbeing.
These programmes have reached around 15 million children over the past 25 years. As part of these efforts, Kaiser Permanente has also established a range of Community Health Initiatives to support the development of place-based interventions to improve population health.
It enables quality outcomes by ensuring that our members receive the right care, at the right time, in the right setting. We avoid unnecessary costs by eliminating unneeded or duplicate tests or procedures that occur when care is not coordinated.
This is a significant factor in keeping our operating costs reasonable. For example, Kaiser Permanente pioneered electronic health records in the s — a cutting-edge, technological undertaking for the organization. We are using the power of that technology today to enable our care teams to provide coordinated, high-quality care for our patients that is seamless across various care settings.
We are also able to aggregate anonymized data to understand clinical best practice to innovate care through population health studies. Kaiser Permanente is also at the forefront in the use of telehealth to provide care to our members.
Horizontal and Vertical Integration: All groups within the Kaiser system are integrated, from the health plan to departments, hospitals, and medical groups. This integrated approach creates a closed loop system for both outpatient and inpatient care. Without the worries of reimbursement, overhead may be lower, and Kaiser can use mobile technologies for payment. Comprehensive EHR: Kaiser invested in electronic EHR systems over 20 years ago and they are now available at every point of patient contact.
This accessibility lowers costs by reducing unnecessary testing and physician communication barriers. Can Traditional Insurers Compete? Was this post helpful? Matthew Townsend provides an excellent review in Learning from Kaiser Permanente: Integrated systems and healthcare improvement in Canada prepared for the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement in November There is no question that we need better integrated care in Ontario.
The Kaiser model has achieved integration with its entire care team through seamless communication using integrated information technology. Can Ontario achieve the same integration through interfacing of currently available IT resources? The Kaiser culture also stresses a consistent measurement and comparison of outcomes aligned with proper structure and incentives to encourage evidence-based care — a key component of a learning healthcare system.
Remembering that physicians in Ontario are more independent contractors than in the Kaiser system, will professionals in Ontario allow management structures that enhance quality improvement within their practices and compensation models? It is unlikely that doctors in Ontario would readily agree to a Kaiser model of capitation without substantial increases in pay and benefits possibly including pension benefits.
It is not clear whether physicians would generally accept a Kaiser compensation model as part of the OHT transformation and very unlikely that the province could afford the model. The Kaiser model of care is for doctors who feel comfortable with its vision. In Ontario, there is no alternative employment model available for physicians. Retaining autonomy is an important issue for Ontario physicians and will likely be an important factor in achieving success with the Ontario Health Teams.
As our healthcare system in Ontario continually evolves, we need sound evidence to guide decision making. Like the Golden State Warriors, Kaiser Permanente is often referenced as the gold standard, a benchmark that defines excellence. The Kaiser model would also cost Ontarian tax payers substantially more than our current system for providing less insured service.
Insuring lower risk individuals at higher cost for less insured service is a good recipe for making money but is not practical for a universal, taxpayer-funded system.
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