News release: Colorado - Denver/Boulder

September 18, 2003

For more information, call:
Jacque Murphy Montgomery
Kaiser Permanente, Media Relations Coordinator
Phone: (303) 344-7410
E-mail: Jacque.Montgomery@kp.org

Kaiser Permanente scores among top 10 health plans for quality

Denver, CO – Kaiser Permanente of Colorado has raised the bar for quality in health care. The National Committee for Quality Assurance just released this year's rankings and found Kaiser Permanente of Colorado among the top 10 health plans in effectiveness of care.

Last year, Kaiser Permanente of Colorado rated among the top 15. NCQA is an independent nonprofit group that evaluates HMOs annually. It also found Kaiser Permanente of Colorado to be one of the top five plans in the mountain region for quality care.

The rating shows the commitment Kaiser Permanente physicians and staff make to providing the very best care possible for their patients. Kaiser Permanente of Colorado posted the top five scores in the country for the following measures:

83 percent of our children under the age of 2 received all their required immunizations.
94 percent of our patients received regular cholesterol checks after a heart attack. 92 percent had their cholesterol levels under control.
92 percent of our mental health patients were seen for follow up checks within 30 days of discharge. 84 percent of our mental health patients were seen by a doctor within seven days of discharge.

Kaiser Permanente is proud of the results of this year's NCQA quality report card. Out of approximately 500 health plans in the country, about 260 let the public know their quality measures, called HEDIS scores. People have a choice when choosing their doctors and their insurers. Kaiser Permanente of Colorado wants to provide all possible information to people so they can make informed decisions and consider factors beyond cost when selecting a plan.

Kaiser Permanente, a nonprofit health plan and the largest private health care provider in Colorado, cares for more than 408,000 members in the Denver/Boulder and Colorado Springs areas. In the Denver/Boulder area, care is provided by a coordinated team of physicians, nurses, pharmacists, dietitians, mental health counselors, and physical therapists. In Colorado Springs, Kaiser Permanente cares for its members through an affiliated network of community-based physicians and other health care providers.