Kaiser Permanente
Essays

¶ … Kaiser Permanente. The writer explores a successful management decision of the company and explains why it was successful.

Kaiser Permanente - Marketing Forces and Diversification Kaiser Permanente has the considerable geographical expanse, huge membership, a large employee force and financial wherewithal to mount an aggressive and widespread marketing plan. Marketing both nationally and regionally, Kaiser has: distinguished itself from other health care providers; embraced diversity in both its membership and employment force; established a national learning center in Washington, D.C.; started and maintained programs targeting obesity, walking for health and environmental concerns; offered free services in many communities; awarded grants and scholarships; and widely publicized all those activities through its News Center. Many of Kaiser's marketing activities are naturally connected with improving quality of care and financial viability. While it is difficult to assess the effectiveness of Kaiser's marketing plan in membership numbers or dollars and cents, its activities have certainly gained widespread recognition and awards for excellence, as well as considerable customer loyalty.

Kaiser Permanente is the nation's largest nonprofit health plan, serving 8.4 million members and 140,000 employees and physicians, in nine states throughout the U.S. (including California) and Washington, D.C. The organization has achieved stellar marks in NCQA accreditation for health plans year after year. The process and planning for such accreditation is explored.

Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente is a titan of the managed health care industry. Established in 1945, it has grown to enormous proportions, serving approximately 9 million members through the efforts of 180,600 employees. Such gigantic proportions and wide arrays of services necessitate complex management. The organization has succeeded in establishing management that works "from the top down" with mixed results. A giant in the managed health care industry, Kaiser Permanente has dealt with its huge membership, extensive geographic expanse and wide array of services by establishing an administrative system in which national management and regional management work with each medical facility's upper management, middle management, middle frontline management and frontline workers. In doing so, the organization has met external and internal forces with mixed results. While its developed "top-to-bottom" management style and "performance improvement process" have resulted in award-winning results, its employees anonymously complain of a bureaucracy that is burdensome, slow and rife with red tape.

Kaiser Permanente Quality Assurance Program

Organizational Overview: Kaiser Permanente