Our advancements
Care Management Institute
Throughout our history, Kaiser Permanente has worked to advance the delivery of health care, uncovering new knowledge through research, identifying new ways to use technology and playing an active role in shaping public policy. We continue to create programs like the Care Management Institute (CMI), established to develop new clinical approaches and practices.
With the goal of improving health outcomes, the CMI offers comprehensive care management programs in diabetes, asthma, heart failure, coronary artery disease and depression - five areas that affect a significant number of Kaiser Permanente members.
The CMI develops health risk assessment tools, life-care planning tools and individual member knowledge repositories that help members take better care of their health. Through Kaiser Permanente's newly developed KP HealthConnect information management system, CMI is able to provide integrated advanced medical information and care management tools that allows our healthcare professionals to provide high quality care to our members. Finally, CMI supports an evidence-based approach to disease management that has touched and improved thousands of lives.
The Permanente Federation
The Permanente Federation, one of the sponsors of CMI, represents the voice of Permanente physicians in the leadership of Kaiser Permanente. The Federation is a national organization composed of the eight regional Permanente Medical Groups (PMGs), through which the physician leaders of the PMGs act as national partners with senior management of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan/Hospitals to oversee and manage Kaiser Permanente.
The Permanente Federation, along with The Permanente Company (a wholly-owned subsidiary), provides expert shared services and consultation to program-wide and regional leaders in the areas of clinical quality improvement, business performance, new venture development, information technology, service improvement, health policy and physician leadership training and development. It also serves as a focal point for sharing best clinical practices throughout the organization.
Research
Reflecting our commitment to the practice of evidence-based medicine, Kaiser Permanente maintains one of the largest nonacademic research institutes in the United States. The Division of Research is based in Oakland, California. We also have nine research centers across the United States. Our researchers study the causes of disease to discover new prevention strategies, treatments and diagnostic procedures that can improve outcomes. Research studies also expand our understanding of mental health, women's health, children's health and other key areas. Health Services research helps to develop more effective ways to deliver and finance care, improve access to care and enhance patient satisfaction.
KP HealthConnect
We were among the first health care organizations to implement new information technology. Presently, we are investing in conceptualizing, planning, building, and implementing advanced systems that can further enhance our ability to improve member services and efficiently deliver high quality health care.
Kaiser Permanente HealthConnectTM is a $3.2 billion information technology system designed to expedite the flow of information between patients, physicians, key health specialists, and patient services. Arguably the largest civilian electronic health record system in the United States, this system will improve the level of care and service we deliver to our 8.2 million members. When the system is fully implemented, health care practitioners will be able to access electronic health records, decision-support tools, and evidence-based protocols in real time as they treat patients in the exam room-facilitating immediate and informed decisions.
KP HealthConnect also provides health care professionals with quick access to current medical information and allow patients to schedule routine appointments and request prescription refills online.
The environment
We've also taken a leadership role in acting on our responsibility to care for our environment, incorporating responsible practices into all levels of care delivery. Since 2002, it has been our mission and our policy to "require architects, engineers and contractors to specify commercially available, cost-competitive materials, products, technologies and processes, where appropriate, that have a positive impact, or limit any negative impact on environmental quality and human health."
Kaiser Permanente's environmental initiatives are grouped into three primary areas:
Green buildings: incorporating sustainable design and construction practices into all new construction and re-builds.
Environmentally responsible purchasing: purchasing goods that incorporate post-consumer recycled content, selecting reusable and durable products and eliminating mercury content.
Sustainable operations: our energy conservation measures have eliminated millions of pounds of air pollutants annually. In addition, the aggregate impact of our pollution prevention activities significantly reduced our purchase and disposal of hazardous chemicals.