••Fall 2005/Vol. 9, No. 4
A Focus on Innovation and Transfer

Permanente in the News

KP News Roundup | to pdf >>
By Barbara Caruso, BA

Physician Director of KP Aging Network Presents at White House Conference on Aging
Kaiser Permanente (KP) recently sponsored a White House Conference on Aging (WHCoA) Solutions Forum on Care Coordination Across the Continuum. The WHCoA occurs once a decade to make aging policy recommendations to the President and Congress, and to assist the public and private sectors in promoting dignity, health, independence, and economic security of current and future generations of older persons. The focus is on the aged and aging.

The Solutions Forum on Care Coordination held last summer consisted of three panels presenting testimony. Richard Della Penna, MD, Director of the KP Aging Network, gave a presentation as part of the second panel, which focused on existing solutions addressing the problems of caring for patients with advanced illness. Dr Della Penna spoke about the Care Management Institute, KP HealthConnect and the Palliative Care Initiative as three examples of why KP has the delivery system structure and organization that supports patients with advanced illness.

Farmers' Market Project Praised For Bringing Produce to the People
KP's innovative farmers' market initiative has received the 2005 Ellis J Bonner Community Leadership Award. The award, presented annually by America's Health Insurance Plans, recognizes health insurance plans that have demonstrated success in identifying and addressing a community need through innovation, creativity, and purposeful leadership.

Representatives from KP, including Preston Maring, MD, the physician champion of the project and founder of the first farmers' market at the Oakland Medical Center, were on hand to accept the award at a special AHIP awards breakfast at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas.

The farmers' market initiative represents KP's commitment to promoting health by introducing fresh fruits and vegetables into neighborhoods where they are not readily available to residents. KP currently sponsors 22 farmers' markets at or near its medical facilities in five different states. An additional ten markets are planned to open in the next year. In addition to fresh produce, many of the markets feature cooking demonstrations, healthy recipes using ingredients available at the market and free access to health and wellness information. And to help encourage additional facilities to open similar markets, KP has published a Farmers' Market Resource Guide.¹

Hawaii Permanente Medical Group (HPMG)
Hawaii's Waste Minimization Team Honored by EPA
KP Hawaii Region's Waste Minimization Team was honored by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its part in a national program reducing hospital pollution. KP received both the Environmental Leadership Award and the Making Medicine Mercury Free Award. The American Hospital Association (AHA), and the American Nurses Association (ANA) presented the Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E) annual Environmental Leadership Awards to 60 health care institutions across the country for outstanding achievement in environmental innovation. The award recipients were recognized at the 2005 National Environmental Partnership Summit in Chicago. The goal of H2E is to eliminate the use of mercury, cut health care waste, and phase out use of hazardous substances and toxic chemicals.

The Permanente Medical Group (TPMG)
Northern California Region Honored for Depression Management Program
The Behavioral Health Quality Improvement Committee (BHQIC), Northern California Region, has received the National Committee for Quality Assurance/Pfizer Quality Award for its depression management program.

The region was recognized for its Quality Improvement Activity "Increasing Antidepressant Medication Adherence in Adults" submitted as part of its 2003 NCQA review. The achievement reflects the work of many in the organization, both in Psychiatry and Chemical Dependency, as well as Primary Care.

The quality improvement activity was selected for publication by NCQA, in collaboration with Pfizer, in the May 2004 edition of Quality Profiles: Leadership Series: Focus on Depression,² which highlights successful efforts to improve depression management. BHQIC Chair Mark McCormick, MD, also presented a summary at the NCQA Behavioral Health Quality Seminar in San Antonio in May 2004.

Physician Named a Hero by American Red Cross
The Bay Area chapter of the American Red Cross honored Brian Hertz, MD, with its first Visa International Humanitarian Hero Award for his relief work in Sri Lanka after the December 2004 tsunami. (See page 79.)

Dr Hertz, a family practice specialist at the San Rafael Medical Center organized 25 Permanente physicians into teams that traveled to Sri Lanka and Indonesia a few weeks after the tsunami. The group remained for three months, providing emergency relief and building infrastructure to support the longer-term logistics, communication, and security needs.

Working out of the regional headquarters in Oakland, he directed the physicians as they worked out of mobile care vehicles, traveled through government and rebel checkpoints to refugee camps, and helped displaced civilians with illness, injury, and trauma as a result of the tsunami. In March, Dr Hertz joined a team in Sri Lanka and was there for a few weeks, working out of a mobile care vehicle and in the Batticoloa General Teaching Hospital.

Prior to joining KP in 2002, Dr Hertz spent 20 years volunteering in international relief programs around the world for Doctors Without Borders and other organizations.

Southern California Permanente Medical Group (SCPMG)
Physician Coauthors World Health Organization Book
Lester Thompson, MD, pathologist at Woodland Hills, contributed and coauthored nine chapters and published over 100 illustrations for the book, World Health Organization Classification of Tumours: Pathology and Genetics of Head and Neck Tumours.³

KP CareActors Receive Standing Ovation at National Nurses Congress
The CareActors troupe from Educational Theatre Programs⁴ in the Southern California Region received a standing ovation for its performance at the Tenth National Nurses Congress in Washington, DC, last spring.

The troupe presented Generations, a play in two scenes that highlights generational differences and ethical issues in the nursing workplace, written by Rodney Gerber and codirected by Gerber and Lisa Beezley-Lippman. Irene Kawashima, MSN, and Mary Lou Millar facilitated discussion with the audience at the conclusion of each scene.

Sponsored by the United Nurses Associations of California (UNAC) and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the high-profile conference, themed "Quality Care--Justice at Work," was attended by 400 nurses from across the nation.

The CareActors' cast included Silvie Zamora, Edna Alvarez, Karen Gedissman, Keith Ferguson, Marnie Crossen-Bell, John Ciccolini, Stardust and Lisa Beezley-Lippman. Judith Goldstein managed backstage and Rodney Gerber stage managed the performance.

The Southeast Permanente Medical Group (TSPMG)
Diabetes Education Program Receives Prestigious Award
The KP Georgia Diabetes Education Program was recently awarded recognition from the American Diabetes Association (ADA), which validated that KP's educational programs have met guidelines of the National Standards for Diabetes Self-Management. A 15-member diabetes team of nurse practitioners, registered dietitians, and LPNs worked diligently for 22 months to achieve this recognition.

To comply with the national standards of care, the diabetes team redesigned the diabetes class structure by adding a second class. The team also focused on clinical and behavioral outcomes and compiled six months of data collection. The following seven Georgia Region facilities received ADA recognition: Cascade, Crescent, Cumberland, Gwinnett, Panola, Southwood and Townpark.

Northwest Permanente Medical Group
Clinician Receives Health Care Champion Award for Legislative Achievements
Jim Moeller, who works in Addiction Medicine at Cascade Park, is also a Washington state lawmaker. A coalition of community health centers presented Jim and another lawmaker the 2005 Health Care Champion award for their legislative leadership. The two helped restore $200 million to the state budget to fund health care programs.

References

1. Kaiser Permanente. Farmers' market resource guide [monograph on the Intranet]. [Oakland (CA): Oakland Medical Center]; [updated 2004 Aug 6; cited 2005 Oct 14]. Available from: http://xnet.kp.org/communitybenefit/chi/tools/docs/KPFarmersMarketResource4.pdf.
2. National Committee for Quality Assurance/Pfizer. Quality profiles: the leadership series: focus on depression. [Washington (DC): NCQA/Pfizer; 2004].
3. Barnes L, Eveson JW, Reichart P, Sidransky D, editors. World Health Organization classification of tumours: pathology and genetics of head and neck tumours. Lyon (France): IARC Press; 2005.
4. Hardee JT, Kasper IK. From standardized patient to care actor: evolution of a teaching methodology. Perm J 2005 Sum;9(3):79-82.