Kaiser Permanente Southern California Medicare Health Plan Top-Ranked by NCQA

PASADENA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Kaiser Permanente Southern California’s Medicare Plan is ranked number two in the nation by the National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA), a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving health care quality.

More than 340 Medicare programs across the nation were ranked for member satisfaction, treatment, and prevention in NCQA’s “Medicare Health Insurance Plan Rankings 2011-2012.”

The NCQA also ranked nearly 400 private health plans across the country and Kaiser Permanente Southern California surged to 12th place in 2011 from 31st in 2010 in the NCQA’S “Private Health Insurance Plan Rankings 2011-2012.”

“It’s a matter of having doctors and health professionals who will listen to you and will work with you. And being treated as somebody who understands what’s going on, is wonderful,” said Kaiser Permanente member Merge Brengle of Glendale, California, who has managed her diabetes effectively with the help of her Kaiser Permanente care team.

“We are honored to be recognized as one of the nation’s top health plans by NCQA for delivering exceptional care and service, as NCQA demonstrates the gold standard in measuring care and service,” said Jeffrey Weisz, MD, executive medical director of the Southern California Permanente Medical Group. “This is a testament to our commitment to providing high-quality health care to the members we serve. We have mission-driven clinicians and staff, working as teams, supported by electronic health records to improve the care of our patients.”

“The real winners today are our members and patients,” said Benjamin Chu, MD, MPH, MACP, group president for Kaiser Permanente Southern California and Kaiser Permanente Hawaii. “Our scores are a critical benchmark for successful health plans today. We have outstanding physicians, nurses, and care teams, as well as cutting-edge technology and have positioned ourselves as leaders in high quality care to our members and patients.”

These rankings include PPOs for the first time in the six years that NCQA has issued annual rankings. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations and recognizes physicians in key clinical areas. Today, 71 percent of Americans in health plans are covered by an NCQA Accredited plan.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE

NCQA is a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations and recognizes physicians in key clinical areas. NCQA’s Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) is the most widely used performance measurement tool in health care. NCQA is committed to providing health care quality information through the Web, media and data licensing agreements to help consumers, employers and others make more informed health care choices.

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 to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 3.4 million members in Southern California. 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.



CONTACT:

Kaiser Permanente
Southern California Region
Sandra Hernandez-Millett, 626-405-5384

KEYWORDS:   United States  North America  California

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS:   Health  Hospitals  Professional Services  Insurance  Managed Care

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