Kaiser Permanente Opens New Information Technology Center in Greenwood Village

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo., Aug. 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Local and national Kaiser Permanente executives joined officials from the metro Denver business community today to celebrate the grand opening of the health care provider's new information technology (IT) center in Greenwood Village. Nearly 350 employees are now working at the new IT center and Kaiser Permanente is actively recruiting to fill an additional 95 new positions in 2013. By 2015, Kaiser Permanente anticipates that approximately 700 IT professionals will work at the new IT center.

The Kaiser Permanente IT center is located at 6560 Greenwood Plaza Blvd. Some of the new positions currently being recruited include:

• Solutions architects
• Managers/directors
• Software developers
• Project/program managers
• Programmers

"As health care evolves, there is an increased demand for IT solutions and support to deliver quality patient care," said Phil Fasano, executive vice president and chief information officer, Kaiser Permanente. "This new IT location is a center of excellence where best in class employees use technology to ensure the delivery of high-quality, affordable health care to Kaiser Permanente members living in Colorado and across the country."

The five-story building housing the new Kaiser Permanente IT center offers easy access to major highways, a light rail stop and several shops and restaurants. It also includes an independently operated deli and a Montessori childcare center. In addition, Kaiser Permanente employees will have access to a fitness center in the building's garden level in 2014.

The campus is Kaiser Permanente's first LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold certified building in Colorado. The LEED certification system is a rigorous process that awards buildings points for features such as site sustainability, water and energy use, materials and resources and indoor air quality.

"Kaiser Permanente's continued expansion plans in Colorado, including the opening of this IT center and new medical offices throughout the Front Range, directly benefit the communities we serve," said Donna Lynne, DrPH, president of Kaiser Permanente Colorado. "We are pleased to provide a sustained boost to Colorado's economy."

"Colorado's high-tech workforce, healthy business eco-system and excellent quality-of-life continue to attract employers and new jobs," said John Brackney, president of the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce. "South Denver is thrilled to welcome Kaiser Permanente and its new IT center to our business community."

Kaiser Permanente is transforming the future of health through its use of health information technology. Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect®, the health care provider's electronic health record, is the largest non-governmental medical record system in the world. KP HealthConnect enables all of Kaiser Permanente's more than 16,000 physicians to electronically access the medical records of all 9 million Kaiser Permanente members nationwide and serves as a model for other care systems.

More than 4.3 million members, 66 percent of Kaiser Permanente's eligible membership, are registered to use its personal health record, My Health Manager on kp.org. Through My Health Manager members have access to secure health information management features, including online appointment scheduling and prescription refills, lab test results, eligibility and benefits information and even children's immunization records. As of Q2 2013, Kaiser Permanente members viewed more than 17.5 million test results and sent more than 7.4 million emails to their physicians through My Health Manager. To-date, My Health Manager iPhone and Android apps have been downloaded more than 630,000 times, providing Kaiser Permanente members with another way to conveniently manage their health. Kaiser Permanente IT manages the technical infrastructure of KP HealthConnect® and My Health Manager.

Kaiser Permanente is also consistently recognized as a best place to work in IT. The health care provider leads the nation in electronic health record implementation with 36 Stage 7 Awards from the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society. The awards honor hospitals that have achieved the highest level of electronic health record implementation. In addition, Kaiser Permanente's California hospitals were named among the nation's Most Wired based on results from Hospitals & Health Networks magazine's Health Care's Most Wired 2013 Survey.

With more than 6,000 staff in Colorado, Kaiser Permanente is one of the state's largest private employers. In 2011, the health care provider hired 140 employees to staff its state-of-the-art Member Service Call Center in the Lowry neighborhood. This December, Kaiser Permanente will open a new multi-specialty center in Lone Tree, where approximately 130 positions will be new hires. As Kaiser Permanente continues to add new membership in Colorado, it's estimated that hundreds of additional jobs could be created in the state in the next three to five years.

Individuals interested in applying for a position with Kaiser Permanente may visit http://kaiserpermanentejobs.org/career-area/Information-Technology.

About Kaiser Permanente Colorado
Kaiser Permanente Colorado is the state's largest nonprofit health plan, proudly working to improve the lives and health of Colorado residents for more than 40 years. Kaiser Permanente Colorado provides comprehensive health care services to more than 540,000 members through 26 medical offices and a network of affiliated hospitals and physicians. The health plan was named "Highest in Member Satisfaction" among Commercial Health Plans by J.D. Power and Associates for the sixth straight year. Kaiser Permanente was recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) as the top-ranked commercial health plan in Colorado, No. 6 in the nation and the second ranked Medicare plan in the U.S. Kaiser Permanente was also recently recognized as a 2012 Hypertension Champion by Million Hearts™. In 2011, Kaiser Permanente proudly directed more than $90 million to community benefit programs to improve the health of all Coloradans. For more Kaiser Permanente news, visit kp.org/newscenter or follow us on twitter @kpcolorado or facebook.com/kpcolorado. 

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente Colorado