A Blueprint for Beating Breast Cancer

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Dec 20, 2017, 08:00 ET

OAKLAND, Calif., Dec. 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaiser Permanente is the highest performing health plan in the nation for breast cancer screening for the sixth year in a row, according to the 2017 National Committee for Quality Assurance's Quality Compass®.

The recently released data shows that more than 85 percent of women who belong to a Kaiser Permanente commercial plan receive the recommended exam in a timely manner. In Kaiser Permanente's Mid-Atlantic States Region (Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.) it's close to 90 percent. The national average is 65 percent.

"Our members expect and deserve excellent medical care when they are sick and for us to help them stay well through preventive care and support for healthy behaviors," said Patrick Courneya, MD, executive vice president and chief medical officer, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc. and Hospitals. "Year after year, our consistent high performance on these important health care measures underscores our dedication to doing what's best for our members."

"I am proud of these NCQA results, but it's most important to me to acknowledge our highly skilled physicians, nurses, clinicians, front-line staff and care teams who are proactive in helping our members stay healthy," said Michael Kanter, MD, executive vice president and chief quality officer, The Permanente Federation, the national organization for the more than 21,000 physicians who exclusively provide care to Kaiser Permanente's members. "Our clinical expertise is evidence-based — we know that prevention, early intervention and accessibility help our members achieve both physical and mental well-being."

Kaiser Permanente's commitment to prevention and early detection and treatment of diseases doesn't stop with breast cancer. The organization's commercial health plans were also named No. 1 in the nation for 24 other measures, including controlling high blood pressure, colorectal cancer screening, and two measures of comprehensive diabetes care (blood pressure control and eye exams). It is the ninth year in a row that Kaiser Permanente plans were the highest performing among nearly 500 U.S. commercial health plans.

And among Kaiser Permanente's older members, the story is the same. Kaiser Permanente's Medicare plans have the nation's highest rates for eight measures, including, for the fourth year in a row, colorectal cancer screening. No other health plan has more top performers than Kaiser Permanente.

The annual Quality Compass database includes scores from the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set, or HEDIS, a tool that is used by more than 90 percent of America's health plans to measure performance on important dimensions of care and service, including medication management, maternal care and treatment of respiratory conditions.

Kaiser Permanente has recently received high marks in several quality performance metrics, including NCQA Health Insurance Plan Ratings 2017-18, which rated Kaiser Permanente Medicare and commercial health plans among the highest in the nation.

In addition, in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' 2018 Medicare star quality ratings, Kaiser Permanente's Northern and Southern California, Hawaii, Colorado, Northwest and Mid-Atlantic States regions received 5 out of 5 stars each, the highest overall rating. Kaiser Permanente's Georgia and Washington regions earned 4.5 out of 5 stars.

View the complete list of Kaiser Permanente accolades from NCQA.

The source for data contained in this publication is Quality Compass® 2017 and is used with the permission of the NCQA. Quality Compass 2017 includes certain CAHPS data. Any data display, analysis, interpretation or conclusion based on these data is solely that of the authors, and NCQA specifically disclaims responsibility for any such display, analysis, interpretation or conclusion. Quality Compass is a registered trademark of NCQA. CAHPS® is a registered trademark of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 11.7 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal Permanente Medical Group physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: kp.org/share.

For more information, contact:
Vincent Staupe:
[email protected]
510-318-1557

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente