Press Releases: National
December 1, 2004
Kaiser Permanente Web site garners three platinum awards in e-healthcare leadership competition
Multi-award-winning site takes top honors in prestigious program
OAKLAND, Calif. – Kaiser Permanente today announced that the organization's web site (www.kp.org) has won top honors in the 2004 eHealthcare Leadership Awards, in the annual competition sponsored by Greystone.Net of Atlanta and the Chicago-based Forum for Healthcare Strategies.
The awards, which showcase the leading providers of healthcare information and services on the Internet, are conferred in 10 different categories. Kaiser Permanente received three Platinum Awards, the highest recognition, for Best Interactive Site for a Healthcare System, Best Site Design for a Healthcare System and Best Site Design for a Consumer General Health Site, respectively. The Kaiser Permanente web site was already a four-time winner of the ehealthcare Leadership Award, including the 2003 Gold Award for Web design.
The Kaiser Permanente site provides a wealth of trusted health information to both members and the general public. For members, it serves as a gateway to a host of Kaiser Permanente services, and now also offers an array of interactive programs in the areas of weight management, smoking cessation, stress reduction and nutrition. Its interface is effective and user-friendly, with an emphasis on design elements that add to, rather than distract from, its focus on healthcare tools.
In that vein, the site recently won an Honorable Mention in the 2004 C. Everett Koop Award competition for its implementation of a comprehensive weight management program designed to help members manage their weight, reduce obesity and improve their overall health.
"Leading-edge healthcare organizations are continuing to put more emphasis on e-business functions," said Mark Gothberg, eHealhcare Leadership Awards chairman. Gothberg noted that among the various disciplines within healthcare, "health plans continue to set the pace for interactivity, with such capabilities as customized personal pages, risk assessments and real-time information requests."
"We've spent the past several years building our website into something that really makes a difference to people's health," said Tim Kieschnick, Manager of Strategy for Kaiser Permanente's Internet Services Group. "Most people want to take charge of their own health, and our site helps people do that. We use the site to connect visitors with the information, the people, and tools they need to thrive. Our web site helps us fulfill Kaiser Permanente's mission to prevent disease, not just treat it. The whole site is designed around the needs of people who are trying to manage their total health and that of their families. We place a premium on interactivity, accessibility, and usability, in a way that pulls all the pieces together in one convenient place."
The fifth annual eHealthcare Leadership Awards attracted more than 1,200 entries from a wide range of healthcare organizations, online health companies, pharmaceutical firms and business improvement/vendor sites—a record for the awards program. Organizations were eligible to submit in any of 17 classifications to compete against others of comparable size, type and resources. Winners were selected by an independent panel of judges who had a deep understanding of both the healthcare industry and the online medium.
The eHealthcare Leadership Awards recognizes the best websites of healthcare organizations, online health companies, pharmaceutical and medical equipment firms, suppliers and business improvement initiatives. The awards highlight the Internet's role in achieving an organization's business objectives and recognize the hard work that goes into creating outstanding healthcare web sites.
In addition to the eHealthcare Leadership and Koop Award recognition, Kaiser Permanente took home two silver awards at the Spring 2004 World Wide Web Awards competition. From a field or more than 1,100 competitors, kaiserpermanente.org was awarded two silver certificates—Miscellaneous Consumer and All Adults 21+ years—in the Health Promotion/Disease & Injury Prevention Information class, and two silver certificates (Miscellaneous Consumer and All Adults 21+ years) in the Patient Education and Information class. The site also garnered "Best Design Consumer Portal" honors in the 2004 Medicine on the Net Awards.
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 8.6 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.
