News release: Colorado - Denver/Boulder

March 5, 2001

Kaiser Permanente earns "Excellent" rating in quality report card

Denver, CO – As schools throughout Colorado wait to see their results of recent CSAP tests, Kaiser Permanente of Colorado has just received its report card in a recent quality test and we've come out on top!

The National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA) evaluates health care organizations across the country. Kaiser Permanente of Colorado was reviewed last November. The results are now in. Kaiser Permanente of Colorado received an excellent rating. It was given in three areas—commercial business, Medicare, and Medicaid. As of February 15, 2001, Kaiser Permanente is the first health organization in Colorado to ever receive the excellent rating in all three areas.

Kaiser Permanente President Chris Binkley points out, "Recognition like this is not possible without the dedication, commitment, and hard work of every staff member and physician. We know we deliver outstanding care day in and day out. It's always satisfying to have that work recognized by an outside agency, especially by NCQA."

The executive medical director of the Colorado Permanente Medical Group says the recognition shows hard work pays off. "The last two years have seen significant improvements in service, staff, and physician morale and in finances," says Jack Cochran, MD. "The excellent rating is icing on the cake."

NCQA's evaluation is a rigorous review of our health plan, evaluating how well the plan manages all parts of its delivery system in order to continuously improve health care for members. It requires us to submit audited data on key clinical and service measures. The excellent rating is NCQA's highest accreditation status for service and quality that meets or exceeds NCQA's rigorous requirements.

Consumers can easily access a health plan's NCQA accreditation status and other information on health care quality on NCQA's Web site at www.ncqa.org. The standards are purposely set high to encourage health plans to continuously enhance their quality. No comparable evaluation exists for fee-for-service health care. NCQA uses Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS^®)^* scores to evaluate the health plan. The HEDIS^® scores include outcomes in the following areas: immunizations, smoking cessation programs, mammography, Pap smear testing, mental illness hospitalization, prenatal care, postnatal care, and chronic disease management.

Kaiser Permanente of Colorado is the state's oldest and largest group-practice health maintenance organization, caring for more than 371,000 members in the Denver/Boulder/Longmont metropolitan area, Colorado Springs, and Pikes Peak region.

^*HEDIS is a registered trademark of the National Committee for Quality Assurance.