Being the Best Saves Lives: Kaiser Permanente Leads the Nation in 21 Quality Measures

OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 22, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Women who catch their breast cancer in stage 1 have close to a 100 percent chance of survival, according to a study by the American Cancer Society. And there's no better health plan in America for breast cancer screenings and early detection than Kaiser Permanente.

Kaiser Permanente health plans in the Mid-Atlantic States, Northern California and Southern California, which serve nearly 8.5 million members combined, are the top three commercial health plans in the nation for breast cancer screening, according to the 2015 National Committee for Quality Assurance's Quality Compass® data.

Kaiser Permanente's commitment to prevention and early treatment of breast cancer doesn't stop there. Kaiser Permanente health plans were also named No.1 in the nation – out of approximately 500 commercial health plans considered – for 21 measures, including cervical cancer screening, controlling high blood pressure, adult BMI assessment, and comprehensive diabetes care (medical attention for nephropathy).

This is the seventh year in a row that Kaiser Permanente has had the most No. 1 rankings among U.S. commercial health plans.

"These outstanding results can be attributed to the hard work of our dedicated physicians, nurses, clinicians, front-line staff and care teams, who strive to do what's best for the member, keeping them safe and healthy," said Scott Young, MD, associate executive director, The Permanente Federation, the national organization for the nearly 18,000 physicians who provide care to Kaiser Permanente's members. "These ratings also reflect Kaiser Permanente's continuous quality improvement efforts, where caregivers apply innovative, evidence-based strategies that enable proactive prevention of illness, early detection of disease and better treatment of chronic conditions."

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 respiratory conditions. While Kaiser Permanente was No.1 in 21 of the 48 care measures rated in NCQA's Quality Compass dataset, no other health plan had more than four No.1 rankings.

"Kaiser Permanente brings together a unique combination of capabilities driven by talented people to serve our members, our patients and the communities where they live," said Patrick Courneya, MD, executive vice president and chief medical officer for Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals. "For years, that fact has been reflected in consistent, nation-leading quality performance on a wide variety of the most important health care measures."

Recently, Kaiser Permanente has received high marks in several quality performance metrics from the NCQA. Last month, the NCQA rated all seven Kaiser Permanente Medicare and commercial health plans highest, or tied for the highest, in all the regions it serves.

The source for data contained in this publication is Quality Compass® 2015 and is used with the permission of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). Quality Compass 2015 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, our mission is 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 10 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 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.

Contact:
Marc Brown (510) 271-6328
Mark Camps (510) 267-7653

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SOURCE Kaiser Permanente

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