Kaiser Permanente Leads Nation in Nine Effectiveness of Care Measures for Medicare

National Committee for Quality Assurance's Quality Compass® for Medicare products shows Kaiser Permanente plans lead the nation in quality scores for seniors

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Kaiser Permanente

Jan 04, 2012, 02:00 ET

OAKLAND, Calif., Jan. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaiser Permanente leads the nation among Medicare health plans with the most No. 1s, receiving top marks in nine out of 37 effectiveness of care measures. These conclusions were based on information in the 2011 National Committee for Quality Assurance's Quality Compass® dataset for Medicare.

Kaiser Permanente received top marks for:

Comprehensive diabetes care — LDL control less than 100 mg/dl (Hawaii Region)
Osteoporosis management in women who had a fracture (Northern California Region)
Breast cancer screening, age 42-69 (Northwest Region)
Pharmacotherapy Management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbation — bronchodilator (Northwest Region)
Cholesterol management (coronary artery disease), LDL level less than 100 mg/dl (Colorado Region)
Controlling high blood pressure — cardiovascular (Hawaii Region)
Follow-up after hospitalization for mental illness — 30 days (Colorado Region)
Potentially harmful drug-disease interaction — total (Hawaii Region)
Weight assessment for adults — body mass index percentile (Georgia Region)

"At Kaiser Permanente, we are committed to providing high-quality care to all our members through evidence-based measures," said Amy Compton-Phillips, MD associate executive director, Quality, The Permanente Federation. "These ratings demonstrate that our doctors and care teams excel in proactive prevention of illness, early detection of disease, and better treatment of ongoing conditions. We are greatly honored that our Medicare plans have received such excellent ratings."

Kaiser Permanente's nation-leading scores in 9 effectiveness of care measures from NCQA's Quality Compass Medicare dataset come two months after NCQA recognized Kaiser Permanente as having 11 top scores nationwide in the Quality Compass ratings for commercial health plans.

Kaiser Permanente was also honored in October when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced its 2012 Medicare Star Quality Ratings. Of the 440 Medicare plans rated nationally, only nine plans received a 5-star rating, the highest possible rating. Four of those plans were Kaiser Permanente Medicare Advantage plans, operating in Kaiser Permanente regions in Northern and Southern California, the Northwest, Colorado and Hawaii.

These nation-leading scores are a result of expert care and medical teams 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. A key differentiator in performance has also been Kaiser Permanente's increasing use of health information technology and its integrated electronic health record, Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect®, which is the largest private electronic health record in the world. KP HealthConnect provides members with convenient, 24/7 access to their personal health information and to their care teams, with goals of increasing self-management and improving health outcomes.

"Our unique integrated delivery system enables us to provide high-quality patient-centered care that meets the individual needs of our members and patients," said Jed Weissberg, MD, senior vice president, Hospitals, Quality and Care Delivery Excellence, Kaiser Permanente. "The Quality Compass rating system supports our great accomplishments, encourages our health plans to continually improve care and service, and leads to better patient experiences across the board."

The source for data contained in this publication is Quality Compass® 2011 and is used with the permission of the National Committee for Quality Assurance. Quality Compass 2011 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.

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 serve approximately 8.9 million members in nine 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: www.kp.org/newscenter.

NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations. It also recognizes clinicians and practices in key areas of performance. NCQA is committed to providing health care quality information for consumers, purchasers, health care providers and researchers.

Contact:
Keith Paulsen, Kaiser Permanente, 510-625-5667

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente