News release: Colorado - Denver/Boulder
July 12, 2001
For more information, call:
Steve Krizman
Kaiser Permanente
Phone: (303) 344-7932
E-mail: Steve.A.Krizman@kp.org
ADVISORY: Incentives for quality health care not new in Colorado
Denver, CO – Reporters who are following the Blue Cross of California announcement that it is establishing bonuses for doctors who meet quality goals should note that this is a trail already blazed by Kaiser Permanente.
If you are working on stories on this subject, a Kaiser Permanente physician is available to discuss these points:
- Kaiser Permanente's system is unique in Colorado in that physicians are paid a salary. There is no incentive for them to limit care.
- A very small portion of each Colorado Permanente Medical Group physician's salary is "at risk," meaning he or she does not get that pay unless the organization as a whole meets rigorous quality goals, customer service targets and does not exceed its budget. An individual physician thus has the incentive to help the entire group provide high-quality care (as measured by the independent National Committee for Quality Assurance) and delightful customer service (as measured by statistically significant, random surveys of patients), and to do so within a reasonable budget.
- The Colorado Permanente Medical Group is an integrated system that fosters collegiality among physicians of all specialties, thus enhancing communication, sharing of best practices and coordinated patient services. Kaiser Permanente is one of only two HMOs in Colorado rated "Excellent" by the independent National Committee for Quality Assurance, and its quality scores are at or near the top in the state in all major categories.
- Ever since Kaiser Permanente opened the first health maintenance organization in Colorado in 1969, the principle has been to provide preventive medicine so that our patients ultimately spend less on health care and enjoy a greater quality of life. For-profit HMOs that emerged in the '90s focused on managing costs, resulting in the kinds of doctor payment schemes that are now falling into disfavor.
