Awards
April 22, 2011
Three Kaiser Permanente Health Plans Among eValue8’s 2010 Top Performers
Three Kaiser Permanente health plans — Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Kaiser Permanente Southern California and Kaiser Permanente Northwest — were among five that were recently named eValue8’s top performing HMOs and PPOs of 2010.
An annual health care purchasing and quality improvement assessment process, eValue8 was developed by the National Business Coalition on Health to help purchasers buy health care products and services while controlling costs and ensuring top quality care. eValue8 collects information on a health plan’s performance for the following clinical areas and administrative practices:
- Health Plan Profile (i.e. a plan’s accreditation status, how it works with employers to promote safe and effective care)
- Consumer Engagement
- Physician Performance Measurement
- Pharmaceutical Management
- Prevention and Health Promotion
- Behavioral Health
- Chronic Disease Management and Member Identification
Along with the three Kaiser Permanente health plans, the other two plans named among the top five were CIGNA New York and HealthPartners Minnesota.
Kaiser Permanente Southern California received another honor, as it was one of four health plans to be bestowed with the 2010 eValue8 Innovations Award. The award is used to recognize the cutting-edge work of health plans in developing and implementing programs that address critical health care issues.
Kaiser Permanente Southern California was selected for this award for its Proactive Office Encounter. According to the National Business Coalition on Health, Kaiser Permanente’s POE program is “designed to provide optimal integrated care at every patient encounter (in all settings, e.g., primary and specialty care) to improve health. Utilized before, during and after a patient-initiated visit to improve clinic outcomes, POE uses electronic medical information technology and data management systems to provide the health care team with timely and accurate member specific care gap information. The enhanced teamwork resulted in a positive impact on the lives of members in areas of cancer screening, blood pressure control, cardiac health, diabetes, asthma management, immunizations, tobacco cessation, weight management and exercise. Early trends show decreases in emergency visits and hospitalizations in the chronic condition populations which could potentially be measured over the long term (i.e., decreased visits, readmission and mortality).”
