Press Releases: Southern California
February 22, 2012
Kaiser Permanente Receives 8 Stars for Excellence in Quality Report Card — Continues Historic Four-Year Record as California’s Health Care Leader
PASADENA, Calif. — For the fourth straight year, Kaiser Permanente in California continues to lead the way for clinical quality, having earned the most stars — a combined eight of a possible eight — for two ratings in the just-released Health Care Quality Report from the California Office of the Patient Advocate.
Kaiser Permanente Southern California received 4 stars for the excellence of its clinical care and 4 stars for member satisfaction based on a survey of how members rank their HMO’s delivery of care and services. In the nine-year history of the report, only Kaiser Permanente has received all eight possible stars for these two categories. Kaiser Permanente Southern California also tied for the highest number of stars, 12 out of a possible 16, in the “HMO Ratings At-a-Glance” section of the report (http://reportcard.opa.ca.gov/).
“Our physicians and medical staff are committed to providing high quality care to our members,” said Edward Ellison, MD, executive medical director of the Southern California Permanente Medical Group. “The OPA 4-star rating affirms that our physicians and clinicians are receiving high marks for delivering the right care at the right time to our members.”
The annual HMO Quality Report Card gives California consumers side-by-side comparisons of the nine largest HMO health plans in the state, ranking them on several standard-of-care measures that can have immediate and long-term implications on personal health.
”This report shows what can be accomplished with a dedicated health care team in a coordinated care model,” said Benjamin Chu, MD, MPH, president Kaiser Permanente Southern California region. “You see it in our great teamwork and person-to-person contact. We make your good health our priority.”
Kaiser Permanente in Southern California earned 4 stars in all nine of the report-card categories for clinical care, including mental health, asthma and lung care, checking for cancer, chlamydia screening, heart care and maternity care, and received the highest ratings in 21 of 39 clinical measures detailed in the report — especially in the area of preventive medicine.
The 2012 report card contains several new measures. In the category “Caring for Children,” measures were added to differentiate between care for young children and care for adolescents. In new measures “Immunizations for Early Teens” and “Checking if Adolescents' Weight may be causing Health Problems,” Kaiser Permanente in Northern and Southern California had the top scores in the state.
Likewise in the new adult-care measure “Advising Patients to Quit Smoking,” Kaiser Permanente had higher scores than any other managed-care plan in California.
The 2012 OPA ratings follow several other recent honors received by Kaiser Permanente:
- In The Joint Commission’s “Improving America’s Hospitals” annual report for 2010, 10 Kaiser Permanente hospitals in California — three in Southern California and seven in Northern California — were recognized as “Top Performers on Key Quality Measures.” The “Top Performer” designation recognizes hospitals that “attain and sustain excellence” on benchmarks that measure how well they treat a variety of serious medical conditions.
- The National Committee for Quality Assurance named Kaiser Permanente as the top-ranked health plan in California, and both regions were ranked in the Top 20 nationally in NCQA’s 2011 annual rankings of commercial health plans. Kaiser Permanente Southern California was ranked No. 1 in the state, No. 12 in the nation. Kaiser Permanente Northern California was No. 2 in the state, No. 14 in the nation.
- NCQA also ranked Kaiser Permanente Southern California’s Medicare Plan No. 2 in the nation for member satisfaction, treatment, prevention and access, according to NCQA’s “Health Insurance Plan Rankings 2010–11/Medicare” annual rankings of nearly 340 Medicare programs.
- Kaiser Permanente’s Medicare plans in California also received an overall rating of 5 stars for parts C and D, the highest rating available from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for 2012.
- In 2011, 18 Kaiser Permanente hospitals — eight in Southern California and 10 in Northern California — were named a “2011 Top Hospital” by the Leapfrog Group, a recognition that rewards medical centers for their outstanding success in such areas as infection rates, safety practices, mortality rates for common procedures and measures of efficiency. The distinction placed those hospitals in the top 52 in the nation, selected from a field of nearly 900 facilities around the country.
About Kaiser Permanente Southern California
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 to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 3.5 million members in Southern California. 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
