Kaiser Permanente Wins Prestigious Eisenberg Award for Patient Safety and Quality Efforts

OAKLAND, Calif., Feb. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaiser Permanente is one of two recipients of the prestigious annual 2012 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Awards.

The award recognizes Kaiser Permanente's implant registries, which help care teams to improve the quality of care provided to its 9 million members by using integrated data systems and advanced statistical analyses to monitor patient outcomes, evaluate new and established device technologies, and identify and facilitate implementation of clinical best practices.

"Delivering the highest quality and safest care to our patients and members are our highest priorities at Kaiser Permanente, so we are honored to be recognized nationally for our efforts in these areas," said Jed Weissberg, MD, senior vice president, Hospitals, Quality and Care Delivery Excellence. "As a health care leader, we are committed to translating our learning from the data we collect in the course of patient care into improving practice within Kaiser Permanente, and through publications and knowledge sharing throughout the world."

The patient safety awards program, launched in 2002 by National Quality Forum and The Joint Commission, honors John M. Eisenberg, MD, former administrator of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, who was a passionate advocate for patient safety and health care quality.

NQF and The Joint Commission applauded Kaiser Permanente for "the pioneering innovations of their implant registries, which have shown unsurpassed and proven benefits for patient safety, quality, outcomes, and cost effectiveness in their integrated health care system."

The two organizations also praised Kaiser Permanente for providing vital data — from tracking more than 300,000 patients — for orthopedic, cardiology and vascular post-market medical device surveillance and surgical outcomes by successfully leveraging its electronic health record, expert databases and patient care experience.

"The ongoing dedication and effort of our orthopedic surgeons, cardiologists and cardiac and vascular surgeons have paved the way for our success," said Elizabeth Paxton, director of surgical outcomes and analysis at Kaiser Permanente. "Thanks to their involvement, the integration into workflow — including rigorous validation and quality control — and ongoing feedback, we have made great strides in improving patient safety and quality across the industry."

Kaiser Permanente's electronic health record system is one of the largest private systems in the world. The organization's integrated model and electronic health record system securely connects 9 million people, 611 medical offices, and 37 hospitals, linking patients with their health care teams, their personal health information and the latest medical knowledge.

The other co-recipient of this year's award was Memorial Hermann Healthcare System of Houston.

Previous winners include The Society of Hospital Medicine, a professional medical society representing more than 10,000 practicing hospitalists in the United States, and the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention, an independent body composed of leading national health care organizations, including AARP, American Hospital Association, American Medical Association and American Nurses Association, that come together to address the interdisciplinary causes of errors and to promote the safe use of medications.

The Eisenberg Award is the most recent in a string of accolades given to Kaiser Permanente hospitals and health plans. In the past year:

• Seventeen Kaiser Permanente hospitals were named 2012 "Top Hospitals" by the Leapfrog Group, an honor that rewards medical centers for their outstanding success in areas such as reducing infection rates, safety practices, mortality rates for common procedures and measures of efficiency.
• Kaiser Permanente Medicare and Commercial health plans received No. 1 rankings for 2012 in 29 effectiveness-of-care measures, far more than any other health plan in the nation.
• Kaiser Permanente's Medicare health plans received a 5-star rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the highest ranking possible, in seven of its eight geographical regions.
• Kaiser Permanente was rated by the National Committee for Quality Assurance as having the three highest-ranked Medicare health plans in the nation.
• Kaiser Permanente continues to lead the nation in the number of Stage 7 Awards from the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society. The Stage 7 Award honors hospitals that have achieved the highest level of electronic health record implementation. In the last three years, Kaiser Permanente has received a total of 36 awards in recognition of its health information technology expertise.

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 more than 9 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: kp.org/newscenter.

For more information:
Yasmin Staton, [email protected], 510.625.3659

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente