KP Researchers
Win Susan B Anthony Award for Excellence in Research on Older Women and
Public Health
Two Kaiser
Permanente (KP) researchers have won the 2003 Aetna Susan B Anthony
Award for Excellence in Research on Older Women and Public Health.
Donna
M Schaffer, RD, MPH, a Care Management Consultant with the Care
Management Institute (CMI), and Nancy P Gordon, ScD, a research
investigator with KP's Division of Research (DOR), won the award for
their study, "Use of Dietary Supplements by Female Seniors in a
Large Health Maintenance Organization." Schaffer worked with DOR
when the research was conducted.
The study
used data collected in a large general health study conducted in 1999
with members of the KP Medical Care Program in Northern California and
examined the use of dietary supplements by women aged 65 to 84 years.
The use of herbals and other dietary supplements has been dramatically
increasing in recent years, especially among senior women, and most
supplements are used without physician or pharmacist supervision.
KP Advises British National
Health Service on Managed Care and Integrated Model of Care
KP has
been working with the British National Health Service in helping them
modernize their health care system. In the British Medical Journal
of November 29, 2003,1 an article compared hospital bed utilization
for patients over 65 years old at KP in California in 2000 and at the
NHS and concluded that the NHS used 350% more hospital bed days than
KP for the 11 most common causes of hospitalization.
The article
noted that the NHS could benefit from KP's approach by developing closer
integration between primary and secondary care, making use of intermediate
care, focusing on chronic diseases and their effective management, and
giving priority to self-care and support of patients and families as
coproviders. Another observation was that the NHS could learn from KP's
experience of engaging physicians in developing and supporting an integrated
model of care.
Northwest
Permanente PC, Physicians and Surgeons (NWP)
Retired Physicians Embark
on History Project to Celebrate NWP's 60th Anniversary in 2005
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Ian
MacMillan with Morris Collen, Chairman of TPMG for 24 years, and
Cecil Cutting, Executive Medical Director of TPMG for 20 years.
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In 2002,
a group of NWP retired physicians set out to publish a definitive history
of NWP by 2005, the official 60th anniversary year of KP in the Northwest.
Physicians involved in the project are: Ian MacMillan, Harvey Klevit,
Kitty Evers, Ek Ursin, Al Martin, Art Hayward and Phil Brenes, assisted
by Judy Hayward and Jean Bradley. Tom Janisse is the sponsor/publisher.
They have
interviewed a number of former physicians, including Marv Goldberg,
former medical director; Harold Cohen, Charles Grossman, and Frank Mossman,
three of the original NWP partners; and Cecil Cutting and Morris Collen,
former Board Chair and Executive Director (respectively) of The Permanente
Medical Group. The authors promising a tale of courage, innovation,
intrigue, and power struggles.
Northwest Region Selected
as a Robert Wood Johnson Pilot Site for Diabetes Self-Management
The Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation recently awarded grants to six sites nationwide
under a program to advance self-management in persons with diabetes
and other chronic conditions. A KP clinic in suburban Portland, Oregon,
is one of the six sites.
Staff
from the Care Management Institute (CMI) will conduct multiple plan/do/study/act
(PDSA) cycles on a wide variety of factors that influence member self-management
and will study 173 members with diabetes on two physician panels. The
work will tie in with other projects, such as group visits and a statewide
diabetes initiative, as well as CMI recommendations around self-management
of chronic disease. Other issues may include how to divide work among
the members of the health care team to maximize individual scope of
practice, how to standardize documentation of care management activities
across diagnostic groups, and integrating some of the underused gems
for members on kp.org, such as focused health topics and decision-point
tools.
Southern
California Permanente Medical Group (SCPMG)
Dr Jeffrey Weisz Assumes
Leadership of SCPMG
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Jeffrey
Weisz, MD
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On January
1, 2004, Jeffrey Weisz, MD, formally assumed his leadership role
as the new Medical Director and Chairman of the Board of SCPMG.
As Medical
Director of the 3600-plus physician group, Dr Weisz, who succeeds Oliver
Goldsmith, MD, is the sixth medical director in SCPMG's 52-year
history.
"I'm
a physician first, and my leadership is based on that premise. Over
the past 24 years, I have dedicated myself to improving the welfare
of our patients, our physicians, and our organization," said Dr
Weisz, adding that his goal is to continue to improve access, quality,
and service to members while improving both physician and patient satisfaction.
Dr Weisz
joined SCPMG in 1978 as a staff hematologist/oncologist in Panorama
City. In 1986, he became Physician-in-Charge of the Oncology Section
at Woodland Hills. Dr Weisz represented his Woodland Hills colleagues
as an elected board member for three terms. He served as assistant to
the Area Associate Medical Director from 1996 until 1999, when he was
appointed Area Associate Medical Director of the KP Woodland Hills Medical
Center.
KP Receives Martin Luther
King Legacy Association Award
In honor
of KP Southern California's commitment to diversity, The Martin Luther
King Legacy Association and The Southern Christian Leadership Conference
of Los Angeles presented KP with the Corporate Responsibility Award.
KP was
honored for being one of the first health care providers in the United
States to have racially integrated hospitals and waiting rooms, as well
as an ethnically diverse workforce, including physicians and allied
health professionals.
KP also
made history in 1954, when Raleigh Bledsoe, MD, joined
the then fledgling medical group, as the first and only African-American
board-certified radiologist west of the Rockies. He is believed to hold
the record for a chief of service at KP, serving the organization from
1954 to 1986.
American Heart Association
Honors Two Leaders
The American
Heart Association (AHA) of Los Angeles County honored two leaders--Siavosh
Khonsari, MD, Chief of Cardiac Surgery, Los Angeles, and Tony Armada,
CHE, Senior Vice President and Area Manager, Metropolitan Los Angeles
Service Area.
Dr Khonsari
was presented with a "Lifetime Achievement Award" and was
recognized for providing tertiary care for cardiac surgery and conducting
complex procedures that are often not available at other medical centers.
Mr Armada
was recently appointed as the new Chairman of the AHA of Los Angeles
County. Over the past 12 years, he has held various roles with the AHA,
including Dinner Committee Chairman for Torrance, the Inland Empire's
chairman for the 1997 Heart Walk, and Chairman-Elect from 2002 to 2003.
Colorado
Permanente Medical Group (CPMG)
KP Colorado Receives Excellent
Rating from National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA)
KP Colorado
has received an "excellent" rating from the NCQA for both
its commercial and Medicare lines of business.
NCQA is
an independent, not-for-profit organization that monitors the quality
of health plans in the United States. "Excellent" is NCQA's
highest accreditation status and is granted only to health plans that
demonstrate levels of service and clinical quality that meet or exceed
NCQA's rigorous requirements for consumer protection and quality improvement.
When the
NCQA team visited KP Colorado in November, they identified several areas
as overall strengths for the region, including active practitioner involvement
in quality improvement programs and the region's
innovative approaches to health care.
In addition
to clinical data, the NCQA also looked at nonclinical measures in such
areas as access, patient satisfaction, denials and appeals, credentialing,
and member materials. In this respect, everyone from the check-in counters
to the exam rooms--as well as those behind the scenes in administrative
support roles-- contributed to the excellent rating.
The
Southeast Permanente Medical Group (TSPMG)
Susan Garrison, MD Appointed
Associate Medical Director
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Susan
Garrison, MD
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Susan
Garrison, MD, has been named Associate Medical Director by Medical
Director Bruce Perry, MD, MPH. In her new role, she will comanage their
12 facilities--both primary care and specialty care sites--and supervise
the Chiefs of Behavioral Health, After-Hours, Pediatrics, Family Practice,
and Internal Medicine. She will also be a resource to their call center
and be integral in facility implementation of KP HealthConnect.
Dr Garrison
is currently Chief of Ob/Gyn at TownPark Medical Offices. She joined
TSPMG in 1998 as Ob/Gyn Lead MD at TownPark and received the TSPMG Administrative
Physician of the Year award in 2002.
Dr Garrison's
name will be placed on the ballot for an Associate Medical Director
position on the TSPMG Board of Directors; this position's term expires
June 30, 2005. During next 20 months, she will enhance the roles of
Chief in the area she supervises, support the Adult Primary Care Taskforce,
focus on retention and provider work-life satisfaction, and oversee
development of new primary care and special care medical facilities.
Reference
- Ham
C, York N, Sutch S, Shaw R. Hospital bed utilization in the NHS, Kaiser
Permanente, and the US Medicare programme: analysis of routine data.
BMJ 2003 Nov 29;327(7426):1257.
| Barbara
Caruso compiled this material from California Wire, Partner
News, and other PMG newsletters and sources. To submit news
of physician or PMG awards and recognitions, contact Ms Caruso
at barbara.caruso@kp.org. |
