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News release: NationalMay 5, 2004 For more information, call: Kaiser Permanente electronic medical record program live; nationwide rollout begins in Hawaii KP HealthConnect will give 8 million members online medical records by 2006 Oakland, CA – As President Bush and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy Thompson announce efforts to ensure that every American has an electronic medical record by 2010, Kaiser Permanente has already gone live with its far-ranging electronic medical record project. Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect is now online in the 8-million member health plan's Hawaii region. Hawaii becomes the first KP region to go live with the clinical information system that will eventually become the largest single comprehensive electronic medical record system in the U.S., linking clinical information with scheduling, billing and registration data. Kaiser Permanente's local and national information technology teams just launched the outpatient system at two ObGyn departments and one primary care clinic on Oahu, and will continue to go live clinic by clinic through 2004. Doctors and nurses using KP HealthConnect will have real-time access to their patients' medical information online in the exam room. They'll know about patients' current and past medical conditions, the drugs they're taking, their allergies and be able to order procedures, prescriptions, and referrals to specialists right there in the exam room. Nationwide, Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect is an electronic medical records system that will put the program's 12,000 doctors and 8 million patients online within a single software design. Physicians and nurses will be able to see a patient's data and confer in real-time, and with the online launch of member secure internet access early 2005, members will be able to see their own information online at www.kp.org. "This is one of the biggest projects we've ever undertaken as a health care organization," says Senior Vice President Louise Liang,MD about KP HealthConnect. Dr. Liang heads up KP's EMR and Quality divisions. "Putting together a system that all of our medical staff feel comfortable with—and that will give our members unprecedented access to their medical information online—is very exciting. We're at the threshold of a new era in medical care for both clinicians and patients." The Hawaii launch is an important milestone to Kaiser Permanente after a year-long "collaborative build" process nationwide. "Thanks to lots of hard work, preparation, sheer will and leadership, the implementation of KP HealthConnect in Hawaii was a monumental success," says Bruce Turkstra, VP and director of KP HealthConnect's implementation. "That tells us that our intense, collaborative process of developing the national software with input from all of our regions worked well. Hawaii is setting a terrific example for our upcoming deployments in Colorado, Mid-Atlantic, Ohio, California and the Northwest regions later this year." Kaiser Permanente is America's leading integrated health plan. Founded in 1945, it is a not-for-profit, group practice prepayment program with headquarters in Oakland, California. Kaiser Permanente serves the health care needs of over 8.3 million members in 9 states and the District of Columbia. It encompasses Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and their subsidiaries, and the Permanente Medical Groups, as well as an affiliation with Group Health Cooperative based in Seattle. Nationwide, Kaiser Permanente includes approximately 134,000 technical, administrative and clerical employees and 12,000 physicians representing all specialties.
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