Measuring quality

    We participate in a number of independent reports on quality of care and service. This allows our members and the public to have reliable information about the quality of care we deliver at Kaiser Permanente in Northern California. It also provides a way to compare our performance to other California health plans.
     

    Advantages for members

    We rigorously examine our own quality performance against that of other health care providers in the community. And we measure up very well in important clinical areas.

    Take, for example, cholesterol and blood pressure management, which are key measures for stroke and heart attack prevention. Our performance in these areas won us special accolades in a recent National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) annual report, citing the fact that death from heart disease is more than 30% lower in the Northern California Kaiser Permanente population than in the nonmember population in California (adjusted for age and gender).

    Or look at childhood immunizations, which keep kids healthy and in school: we outperform other health plans in our region.1

    We consistently rank high in effectiveness-of-care measures from national benchmarking tool HEDIS®2 in preventive screenings such as breast and cervical cancer screenings. This focus on keeping people healthy results in early treatment and better outcomes.

    We are also a top performer in managing chronic conditions such as asthma, cardiovascular disease, depression, and diabetes. Our programs help members with chronic conditions enjoy a better quality of life.

     

    Regional quality performance

    The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) is a private nonprofit organization that accredits and rates health care providers. The NCQA’s Health Insurance Plan Ratings are based on combined scores for health plans in Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set®, commonly called HEDIS; the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems®, or CAHPS; and NCQA Accreditation standards scores.