Clinical Excellence

October 4, 2011

Kaiser Permanente Health Plans Receive High Marks in ‘NCQA’s Health Insurance Plan Rankings 2011–2012’

Kaiser Permanente recorded strong gains again this year in the annual National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) rankings of health plans posted here today. The results of the report, which were released last month by NCQA, showed that for the first time Kaiser Permanente has the four highest-ranked Medicare health plans in the nation and four of the top 25 Private (Commercial) health plans.

Kaiser Permanente also has the second-highest Medicaid plan in the country, according to NCQA’s “Health Insurance Plan Rankings 2011–2012.”

The NCQA report ranks health plans in three categories: Medicare, Medicaid and Private (Commercial). The top four Medicare plans in the country were Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Kaiser Permanente Colorado and Kaiser Permanente Northwest. Kaiser Permanente Hawaii ranked number seven in the nation for Medicare plans and retained its 2010 position as the No. 2 ranked Medicaid plan in the nation.

“We are proud and deeply honored by being recognized among the top Commercial, Medicare and Medicaid health plans this year,” said Jed Weissberg, MD, senior vice president, Hospitals, Quality and Care Delivery Excellence, Kaiser Permanente. “Our high standing in this year’s report underscores Kaiser Permanente’s deep commitment for sustained improvement; the dedicated work of our physicians, nurses and care teams; and the value of our cutting-edge electronic health record in helping to support the relentless drive toward the highest quality health care possible.”

Northern California is No. 1

Out of the 341 Medicare plans surveyed by NCQA, Kaiser Permanente Northern California is No. 1 in the country after being ranked No. 8 last year. Kaiser Permanente also has six other plans in the top 20:

• Kaiser Permanente Southern California is No. 2 (up from No. 5 in 2010)
• Kaiser Permanente Colorado is No. 3 (down from No. 2 in 2010)
• Kaiser Permanente Northwest is No. 4 (same as last year)
• Kaiser Permanente Hawaii is No. 7 (up from 12th in 2010)
• Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic States ranked 17th (up from 19th in 2010)
• Kaiser Permanente Ohio ranked 19th (up from 38th in 2010).
• Kaiser Permanente Georgia, which was ranked 30th last year, fell one position in the rankings to 31st.

Medicaid

Out of nearly 100 Medicaid plans surveyed, Kaiser Permanente Hawaii ranked No. 2, holding the same position as in 2010. 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.

Improvement in all Eight Regions

In the Private (Commercial) category, where 390 plans were surveyed by the NCQA, Kaiser Permanente also had remarkable improvement, as all eight regions improved. Kaiser Permanente Colorado, after becoming the first Kaiser Permanente commercial health plan to be ranked in the top 10 when it came in at No. 9 last year, improved three spots this year to No. 6.

Three other plans were included in the top 25 in the commercial rankings:

• Kaiser Permanente Southern California ranked 12th (up from 14th in 2010)
• Kaiser Permanente Northern California ranked 14th (up from 21st in 2010)
• Kaiser Permanente Northwest ranked 21st (up from 53rd in 2010)

Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic States ranked 33rd, moving up 40 places from 73rd last year. Two other Kaiser Permanente plans surged as Kaiser Permanente Hawaii moved up 10 spots to 37th position from 47th in 2010, and Kaiser Permanente Ohio climbed 17 spots to 68th position this year up from 85th in 2010.

Health Information Technology

Another key area of focus has 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.

The NCQA is a private, not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. It annually ranks Medicare, Medicaid and private (commercial) health plans largely based on customer experience, prevention and treatment. Now in its sixth year, the “NCQA’s Health Insurance Plan Rankings” report is based on combined scores for health plans in Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set®, commonly called HEDIS; the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems®, or CAHPS, and NCQA Accreditation standards scores. Consumers and employers assess plans prior to annual enrollment periods.

To review the complete 2011 NCQA health-plan rankings, go to www.ncqa.org/rankings.

About NCQA
The National Committee for Quality Assurance is a private, 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. Since its founding in 1990, NCQA has been a central figure in driving improvement throughout the health care system, helping to elevate the issue of health care quality to the top of the national agenda.