Kaiser Permanente Honored for Health Information Technology Innovation with CIO 100 Award

OAKLAND, Calif., June 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaiser Permanente was recognized by IDG's CIO magazine with a CIO 100 Award for using information technology in innovative ways that provide value. The award was specifically in honor of Kaiser Permanente's first-of-its-kind Mobile Health Vehicle.

The MHV increases and extends access to critical health care services, including a broad range of screenings, for Kaiser Permanente members and uninsured patients who would otherwise lack access to these services.  The 500-square-foot, 10-wheeled vehicle was the nation's most wired private mobile health solution at the time of its deployment, having full access to Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect®, the organization's comprehensive electronic health record, so that care teams aboard could wirelessly access complete health information for patients being treated. 

The MHV is just one example of innovation at Kaiser Permanente.  As a world-wide leader in health information technology, Kaiser Permanente consistently develops new ways to address some of health care's biggest challenges and deliver health information to physicians and patients to increase collaboration and improve quality of care. 

"To say that we are proud of our work to improve access and quality of care through the use of technology would be an understatement," said Philip Fasano, Kaiser Permanente's chief information officer. "Being recognized for providing value through information technology really honors the critical partnership between clinicians and technology professionals – a partnership that makes all the difference for our members."

The recipients of this year's CIO 100 award went through a three-step selection process. After completing the initial online application form detailing their innovative IT and business initiatives, a team of judges reviewed the applications in depth, looking for unique practices and substantial results. Finally, CIO editors reviewed the judges' recommendations and voted on the final 100. Complete coverage of the 2010 CIO 100 awards can be found online at www.cio.com and in the August issue of CIO magazine.

Kaiser Permanente has a 50-year history of leadership in health information technology, and announced yet another milestone earlier this year: the full implementation of Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect® with care team adoption in all of its 36 hospitals and 431 medical offices. KP HealthConnect is the world's largest privately owned electronic health record, securely connecting more than 8.6 million people to their physicians, nurses, and pharmacists, personal information, and the latest medical knowledge. The technology increases care team coordination, which helps improve the quality of care and reduce redundancies.

In addition to increasing communication and information-sharing among care teams, KP HealthConnect empowers patients to manage their own health. My Health Manager on kp.org provides secure access to a personal health record that includes shared access to the KP HealthConnect clinical record and tools designed to help members connect to the people and services they need to stay healthy. With the broadest adoption of any personal health record on the market, My Health Manager provides all Kaiser Permanente members with timely access to their lab test results, medication information and refill capabilities, summaries of their health conditions, and other important health information at just the click of a mouse. The technology also allows members to securely e-mail their doctor, often saving them the inconvenience of an unnecessary visit to a physician's office, or spending time on the phone waiting to talk to someone.

"Making our services and our caregivers available to our members through electronic connections meets our members' needs" said George Halvorson, chairman and CEO of Kaiser Permanente. "The incredible growth in our e-visits – now up to nearly 9 million visits a year – is driven entirely by our members. Our members love the connectivity we offer, and we are committed to a future health care system in which patient information is accessible, secure, instantaneous, continually improving and accurate."

The CIO 100 Award is not the first to honor Kaiser Permanente's health information technology this year. In March, the Health Information Management System Society honored Kaiser Permanente with 12 Stage 7 Awards for hospitals that achieved the highest level of electronic health record implementation. HIMSS Analytics created the EMR Adoption Model to measure health IT adoption across all 2,400 hospitals in the U.S. By the end of 2009, 39 hospitals were recognized for achieving the highest state of implementation; 24 of those are Kaiser Permanente hospitals. With the implementation of KP HealthConnect now complete, Kaiser Permanente expects that many, if not all, of the remaining hospitals will receive Stage 7 recognition in 2010.

About CIO Magazine

CIO produces award-winning content and community resources for information technology executives thriving and prospering in this fast-paced era of business, as well as create opportunities for information technology and consumer marketers to reach them. The CIO portfolio includes CIO.com, CIO magazine (launched in 1987), CIO Executive Programs and the CIO Executive Council. CIO properties provide business technology leaders with analysis and insight on information technology trends and a keen understanding of IT's role in achieving business goals. The U.S. edition of the magazine and website are recipients of more than 200 awards to date, including three Grand Neals from the Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Awards and two Magazine of the Year awards from the National Society of Business Publication Editors. CIO websites and magazines appear in more than 25 countries, including Australia, Canada, China, France and Germany. CIO is produced by CXO Media a subsidiary of International Data Group (IDG), the world's leading technology media, research and event company.

About Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 8.6 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: www.kp.org/newscenter.

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente