Clinical Excellence
November 12, 2009
Kaiser Permanente Health Plans Rank Number 1 on ‘America’s Best Health Insurance Plans’
Kaiser Permanente has the top-ranked health plans in the nation in both Medicaid and Medicare, according to a joint ranking by U.S. News & World Report and the National Committee for Quality Assurance. The December 2009 issue, “America's Best Health Insurance Plans 2009 – 10,” ranked the nation's top commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid health plans based on clinical quality data, member satisfaction and NCQA accreditation scores.
Kaiser Permanente Colorado is the No.1 ranked Medicare health plan in the country, while Kaiser Permanente Hawaii took the top spot in the Medicaid rankings.
In the commercial category, Kaiser Permanente showed improvement nearly across the board as seven of the eight regions moved higher in the rankings, led by the Colorado Region, which is 13th (out of more than 230 plans ranked) after being 42nd in 2008. Two other Kaiser Permanente regions made the top 50 commercial plans: Kaiser Permanente Northern California is ranked 32nd (48th in 2008) and Kaiser Permanente Northwest is 46th on the list (50th in 2008). The Hawaii Region made the biggest move, jumping to 86th place in 2009 from 139th in 2008, a leap of 53 places. Other Kaiser Permanente Regions in the top 100: Southern California 71st, Mid-Atlantic States 81st and Georgia 84th.
Along with the top-ranked Colorado Region, six of Kaiser Permanente’s eight regions ranked among the top 15 Medicare plans (out of more than 160 ranked). Kaiser Permanente Northwest (No. 7) and Kaiser Permanente Southern California (No. 8) also distinguished themselves by earning top 10 rankings. The Northwest Region jumped 13 places, as it was number 20 in 2008. The three other Kaiser Permanente regions that made the top 15: Northern California 13th, Hawaii 14th and Mid-Atlantic States 15th.
The Hawaii Region is in the top spot in the Medicaid rankings, after being ranked fifth last year. Other Kaiser Permanente regions are not required to report data on all the measures used to access the Medicaid plan and were therefore unranked in this category.
The three reporting categories used within this report include consumer experience, prevention and treatment.
“We are very proud of our numbers in this year’s rankings,” said Jed Weissberg, MD, senior vice president, Quality and Care Delivery Excellence, Kaiser Permanente. “Our performance once again shows we have outstanding physicians and committed care teams, as well as a cutting-edge electronic medical record that’s furthering our drive for quality and patient safety. Delivering exceptional care to our members and patients is what we strive to do every day here at Kaiser Permanente.”
- Communicate and Improve — We are pleased that Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect®, the world’s largest civilian electronic health record system, is adding even more value by opening new ways for doctors and members to communicate and improve health. With that in place, our members’ personal health records (My Health Manager) on kp.org are helping our members manage their health online. Members can send and receive secure messages to their doctor over the internet, refill prescriptions, make appointments and use dozens of programs and resources to help them stay healthy.
- Availability Services — We are confident that our investment in KP HealthConnect and the addition of our members’ personal health records (My Health Manager) on kp.org is improving service for our members in ways that are not captured by any of these external surveys. The HCAHPS patient experience survey currently captures only information about patient visit experiences at our hospitals. The increased benefits and improved services available through our increasingly popular online experience are simply not measured.
America’s Best Health Insurance Plans is a trademark of U.S. News & World Report.
