Kaiser Permanente Wins Six eHealthcare Leadership Awards

OAKLAND, Calif., Dec. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaiser Permanente has received six eHealthcare Leadership Awards, including the highest honor for Organizational Commitment and the Platinum Award for Best Mobile Communications.

Kaiser Permanente was one of only four health care providers recognized for Organizational Commitment and the only health care provider recognized in its category. The top award distinguishes Kaiser Permanente for its commitment to using online and mobile technologies to support its mission of total health through patient engagement.

The health care organization also received the top award in its category for its flagship iOS app, which was launched in May 2012. The app has been downloaded more than 350,000 times on Android and iPhone devices. Mobile is becoming an increasingly important patient-engagement tool. In October, 20 percent of all visits to kp.org were from mobile devices, up from 13 percent in March.

In addition to these top awards, Kaiser Permanente was also recognized for:

• Best Health Content (Insurer website – kp.org) - Gold Award
• Best Health Content (General health website – kp.org) - Gold Award
• Best Care/Disease Management Website (kp.org/healthylifestyles) - Gold Award
• Best Overall Internet Website (www.kp.org/universityofcalifornia) - Gold Award

"Our digital services are part of an integrated health experience that empowers members to become more engaged in their health care. In fact, more than 65 percent of our eligible members are benefitting from those services today," said Christine Paige, senior vice president for Marketing and Internet Services at Kaiser Permanente. "We will continue to evolve our digital presence to help members have a meaningful connection with their health information and care providers."

Kaiser Permanente provides easy and convenient online tools and information to help members choose a health plan that meets their individual needs, and then manage their health through its personal health record, My Health Manager on kp.org.

Susan Benz, of Oakland, Calif. says she can't imagine life without My Health Manager. "There was a time when my husband was very sick and I managed most of his care. Being able to talk to his specialists over email and manage his prescriptions online made a stressful situation easier to bear," she said. "And I feel like I have a closer relationship with my own doctor because I can email her whenever I need to."

More than 4 million members currently use My Health Manager on kp.org to engage their care teams and become more actively involved in their health care. This year alone Kaiser Permanente members have viewed more than 24 million test results and sent more than 10 million emails to their physicians through My Health Manager.

A 2010 Kaiser Permanente study published in Health Affairs found that secure patient-physician email use was associated with an improvement of 26.5 percentage points in performance on the HbA1c glucose test, cholesterol, and blood pressure and control.

The eHealthcare Leadership Awards competition received more than 1,100 entries. The program exclusively recognizes the best websites of health care organizations (both large and small), online health companies, pharmaceutical/medical equipment firms, suppliers and business improvement initiatives. These awards recognize people and organizations for their hard work realizing the potential of the Internet in solving key business objectives.

"As in previous years, competition was especially strong among large hospitals, health care systems and managed care organizations," says Mark Gothberg, eHealthcare Leadership Awards chairman.

Websites were rated on Internet excellence and how they compare to similar websites in their group classification. The awards are sponsored by Strategic Health Care Communications, an organization that supplies marketing, communications and business development information to health care organizations through its two publications, Strategic Health Care Marketing and eHealthcare Strategy & Trends.

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.

Contact:
Amanda Wardell, Kaiser Permanente, 510-292-0758

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente