Press Releases: Northern California
October 12, 2011
Kaiser Permanente Medicare Plans in California Receive Top Ratings for Quality and Service from Federal Agency
5-star ratings in Northern and Southern California are highest possible in the nation
OAKLAND, Calif. — Kaiser Permanente announced today that its Medicare plans in California received an overall rating of 5 stars for parts C and D, the highest rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for 2012.
Through the Medicare Star Quality Rating System, CMS assigns scores of 1 to 5 stars to Medicare plans based on 50 quality measures across five categories that include staying healthy, managing chronic conditions, member satisfaction, customer service, and pharmacy services.
The 5-star CMS ratings for California encompass Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California and Southern California regions.
“Kaiser Permanente is widely recognized as a leader in high-quality care and prevention,” said Kaiser Permanente Northern California Regional President Gregory Adams. “Our physicians, nurses and staff members work together to provide personalized, coordinated and technologically advanced care that improves our members’ health and encourages them to be as active and productive as possible. The Medicare Star ratings provide further high-level validation that we deliver the right care at the right time, and that we do it consistently.”
The top ratings mean that Kaiser Permanente will be distinguished by a “High Performing” icon in the survey results posted on the www.Medicare.Gov website.
“To provide superior medical care, you need to have top physicians, seamless coordination of care, advanced technology and excellence across all disciplines—outpatient and inpatient care,” said Robert Pearl, MD, executive director and CEO of The Permanente Medical Group. “Our coordinated approach linking clinicians, hospitals and health plan through 21st century technology delivers high-quality, affordable care—not only to our Medicare patients, but to all of our members and the communities we serve. Our nation-leading, 5-star rating is a tribute to the excellence of our people and our superior approaches to medical care.”
Plan performance summary star ratings are assessed each year and may change from one year to the next.
The 2012 CMS rating is consistent with the recently released National Committee for Quality Assurance assessment of the nation's health plans, in which Kaiser Permanente's Medicare plans in Northern California and Southern California ranked No. 1 and 2 in the country, respectively.
Enrollees can learn more about the Medicare Star Quality Ratings and Kaiser Permanente’s Medicare plans by visiting www.kp.org/medicarestars or www.Medicare.Gov, or by calling 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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 8.8 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.
