Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente (KP) is a managed care company based in California; with a mission to provide high quality, affordable health care service to the community it serves (“Kaiser Permanente, News Center,” n.d.).
Member services
KP offers member services such as complaints regarding the medical service used, questions or comments about the chosen health plan, questions or comments about the KP website. A member can use the website to communicate to the concerned department of KP (“Kaiser Permanente, Member Services,” n.d.).
New/ current/ upcoming technology
In KP, the medical records of member patients are not stored on paper, but on most advanced and secure electronic health record systems in health care. It is not only the patient’s doctor who can access the records, but the patient too can connect for an easy and secure access to his doctors and his health information. Besides, the health records are linked to every KP facility in the region, so that the patient gets coordinated care from one visit to next visit. The software ‘My Health Manager’ allows the patient or his caretaker to send emails to the doctor’s office, schedule routine appointments, review most of the test results, and refill prescriptions. The life changing technology offers proactive care with the help of most advanced electronic medical records systems and identifies if one needs preventative screenings to spot early disease conditions. KP’s Garfield Innovation Center, a living laboratory, is a place where new ideas are tried and solutions are developed; multiple innovations at this center have benefitted patients and are benefitting them every day (“Kaiser Permanente, Healthy Innovations,” n.d.).
Accreditation and/or certification
The KP website has its awards and accreditations last updated in July 2011. KP website complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health related information. HON stands for Health on the Net Foundation, which is a nonprofit organisation designed with an objective to raise the quality of online health information. The HON code of conduct is a widely endorsed set of ethical guidelines for online health and medical content developers (“Kaiser Permanente, Web awards and accreditations,” n.d.).
Besides HONcode, the KP website has received eHealthcare Leadership Awards, an award that recognises the best websites of healthcare industry organisations. In 2010, it received a gold award in the 11th Annual eHealthcare Leadership Awards. Prior to this, in 2009, it received 2 gold awards and 1 silver award in the 10th Annual eHealthcare Leadership Awards. In 2008 as well, KP received the same number of gold and silver awards as in 2009. In 2007, it received 1 platinum award (the highest recognition), 1 gold award, and 1 silver award at the 11th Annual Healthcare Internet Conference; whereas in 2006, it received 2 platinum awards and 1 gold award (“Kaiser Permanente, Web awards and accreditations,” n.d.).
In the same year 2006, it received another award, the “Innovations in Healthcare” Award for Consumer Empowerment from the Adaptive Business Leaders (ABL) organisation. ABL is a nationally-renowned roundtable of CEOs from healthcare or technology companies focusing on strategic and operations developments in innovative industries. This award was particularly given to KP for healthy lifestyle program content, which addressed areas of critical health issues like weight loss, stress reduction, and smoking cessation (“Kaiser Permanente, Web awards and accreditations,” n.d.).
Patient incentives and provider outreach
KP believes in personalized care and recommends its members to select your own doctor. As a member, one will receive his/her identification (ID) card. In case a health care service is required even before the delivery of ID card, one can request for medical record numbers by calling KP’s Member Services Call Center from Monday through Friday, 7am - 7pm and 7am - 3pm on Saturdays and Sundays (“Kaiser Permanente, welcome to,” n.d.).
Two factors that are thought provoking that detail the insurance companies' commitment to excellence and quality
Farmer’s market: Why would an insurance company be interested in promoting organic fruits and vegetables on their website? Unusual for any company! But KP has it. A section of Farmer’s Market available at: http://mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.org/ncal/facilities/region/santaclara/area_master/home/farmersmarket.jsp which specifies and encourages you to go shopping for organic stuff including fresh fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and baked goods (“Kaiser Permanente, Farmer’s Market,” n.d.).
Another factor that shows KPs commitment to healthcare is by supporting the members while helping them to reach their wellness goals. It is amazing that KP offers wellness coaching at no extra cost for its members. Details are available on http://mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.org/ncal/mdo/presentation/healthpromotionpage/index.jsp?promotion=wellnesscoaching#Link%7C/ncal/mdo/presentation/healthpromotionpage/indexContainer.jsp?promotion=wellnesscoaching. It would not be surprising to know that people would prefer KP to any other company (“Kaiser Permanente, Wellness Coaching,” n.d.).
Recommendations for improving the health care insurance company's website or services and justify your recommendations
It is certain that KP has all that a person would look for in his and his family’s healthcare. There are still a few things that KP can do to improve upon their services and that would benefit patients across the globe.
The information and content under “Health Guide” section is limited. The health guide has described very few or limited number of diseases/ conditions. This ideally should have an extensive list of common and rare diseases, and patients at least would like to know the cause of the disease they are suffering from (a focus on etiology) and home care measures. A paragraph on prevention or precautions should also be ideal to include.
Secondly, the information on diseases and conditions should not be only in English, but since the company has a global presence, the company’s local websites should have readable content in the local language (may be with focus on most prevalent local diseases).
Thirdly, for members who have just enrolled and are yet to receive the ID cards, if there is a healthcare service necessity, they can call up on Member Service Call center from Monday through Friday from 7am - 7pm and 7am - 3pm on Saturday and Sunday to get their medical record numbers. In view of improving the services, this service can be extended to 24/7 service because a medical emergency can arise anytime, even during the night, and the patient should be able to get into the hospital hassle free for his treatment.
References:
About Kaiser Permanente. News Center. (n.d.) Kaiser Permanente. Retrieved Feb 02, 2013 from the Kaiser Permenente: http://xnet.kp.org/newscenter/aboutkp/index.html
Member Services. (n.d.) Kaiser Permanente. Retrieved Feb 02, 2013: https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/health/care/consumer/locate-our-services/member-services
Healthy Innovations. (n.d.) Kaiser Permanente. Retrieved Feb 02, 2013: http://thrive.kaiserpermanente.org/healthy-innovations
Web awards and accreditations. (n.d.) Kaiser Permanente. Retrieved Feb 02, 2013: https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/health/care/consumer/ancillary/!ut/p/c5/hY5bcoIwAEXX0gV0ko6QwicQJII8pB2E_DCJWIQEA4MiuPrSBbQ99_ecmQsoWHdlU1OzW6OuTIIcUFRu_Y_Ytt8sGGumAXehQ5xdFMAVcFyNApXwFyz4b09_jD96H9BaKr5-OV4KOGMVPrBlfwlT0Fh-Ui-Qak5pPbC5ztzJPpzYsNxNLg-VmNqxarHz-tzzekrivvG9QoyL6MN3fCF0tK0o0Po5xajV5jYMx7OJkaff3HJjnpiQKFseezfLIwc5d67SnJTRU_AkKbVCJxUxuNrk-iDStHgBEVHdGfTd1kw6w_oG9e2SRw!!/dl3/d3/L2dBISEvZ0FBIS9nQSEh/
Welcome to the New Member Outreach and Physician Selection Department. (n.d.) Kaiser Permanente. Retrieved Feb 02, 2013 : http://mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.org/ncal/facilities/region/eastbay/area_master/new_members/
Farmer’s Market. (n.d.) Kaiser Permanente. Retrieved Feb 02, 2013 : http://mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.org/ncal/facilities/region/santaclara/area_master/home/farmersmarket.jsp
Wellness coaching. (n.d.) Kaiser Permanente. Retrieved Feb 02, 2013: http://mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.org/ncal/mdo/presentation/healthpromotionpage/index.jsp?promotion=wellnesscoaching#Link%7C/ncal/mdo/presentation/healthpromotionpage/indexContainer.jsp?promotion=wellnesscoaching
