Kaiser thrive meaning
It's too soon to tell whether Kaiser will follow through by sharing financial information and providing education so all employees can participate in transforming its operations. The contract establishes joint partnership committees of managers and union representatives who will review and discuss Kaiser business plans that affect union members. and General Motors Corp., Kaiser's pact with the AFL-CIO is "a model for the healthcare industry," according to Peter Lazes, professor in worker participation and new work systems at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University in New York. Taking its cues from other industries and successful partnerships at companies like Xerox, Levi Strauss & Co. Last spring it established what's being called a pioneering pact with labor. Kaiser has taken the lead in several key areas as the healthcare scene changes. Sullivan is helping convert the HMO's multiple information systems into a coherent national system, eliminating redundancies. There's a fundamental transformation of Kaiser that's going on," Williams says.įor example, Kaiser's new chief information officer, Timothy Sullivan, is the former CIO of First Interstate Bank. "If you look at the top 100 managers over the last two years, 50 or 60 are new to their positions, and almost 20 to 30 are new to the organization, with half of those coming from outside the industry. Williams, formerly an executive at an international consulting company, is one of a new breed of top managers at Kaiser. The international business "is very much part of the future of Kaiser Permanente," Williams says. Kaiser has formed partnerships with a number of organizations in several countries but so far has no direct investments. Kaiser is providing management and advisory services in more than a dozen countries, including Japan, Russia and the United Kingdom. Kaiser Permanente International was formed in October 1996, following "a deluge of requests for help from around the world," says Williams, who is president of KPI.
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It has 10,248 Kaiser enrollees nationwide, including 4,244 employees plus their dependents and some retirees, Darling says. Kaiser's Atlanta plan is Xerox's benchmark HMO in that region, offering the lowest premium for a comprehensive benefit package and meeting high standards of quality, she says. Kaiser's District of Columbia and Atlanta plans are "thriving," says Helen Darling, manager of international compensation and benefits at Xerox Corp. Kaiser may make one other acquisition this year, he says. It also wants a presence in other major markets such as New York, Chicago and Florida. Kaiser is considering acquisitions in all the markets where it operates to maintain "strong, sustainable positions" in integrated healthcare, says Jim Williams, senior vice president of strategic development. Kaiser posted net income of $265 million on $13 billion in revenues last year. Kaiser has since acquired an HMO in New York state and one in the District of Columbia, and it has affiliated with Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound in Seattle.Įnrollment has soared to 8.7 million-one in 31 Americans-in June from 6.6 million in 1994 (See chart). And Kaiser remained a wallflower while rivals found partners at the dance of mergers (July 17, 1995, p. From 1993 to 1994 Kaiser's enrollment grew by a scant 1,000. In addition, the HMO has shown renewed marketplace vigor. This year Kaiser will allocate up to $420 million on expected revenues of $14 billion. Not-for-profit Kaiser says its goal is to steer 3% of annual revenues to direct community benefit. Numerous studies show Kaiser is a quality leader in various areas of healthcare and is improving quality (See chart). Consumer surveys by Consumer Reports and Newsweek rate Kaiser highly. and the California Public Employees Retirement System. The question is: What's the true picture of Kaiser?Īmid the sometimes gloomy choruses, no HMO receives more kudos, from the National Commission for Quality Assurance to President Clinton to exacting purchasers like Xerox Corp. But Kaiser is in many ways a giant mirror that reflects the struggles and uncertainties of the evolving American healthcare system. That Kaiser, the nation's oldest and largest HMO, could be viewed so differently by different people seems bizarre at first blush.
To its detractors, Kaiser is an evil HMO empire, a medical factory that hoards money, mistreats doctors, skimps on nursing staff, suppresses negative information and endangers the lives of its patients.
To its supporters, Kaiser Permanente is what an HMO should be: an integrated and cost-effective healthcare delivery system that supports its patients, doctors, nurses and the practice of high-quality medicine. Kaiser is the best of HMOs, Kaiser is the worst of HMOs.