Kaiser Permanente Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Kaiser Permanente is a not-for-profit comprehensive and integrated health care provider based in Oakland, California. The organization was founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney R. Garfield.Today, Kaiser Permanente operates in nine states and the District of Columbia, and is the largest health maintenance organization in the United States, with: 8.3 million health plan members, 134,000 employees, 11,000 physicians, 30 medical centers, 431 medical offices, and annual operating revenues of $22.5 billion.
Since 1955, Kaiser Permanente has been organized into three distinct organizations:
Kaiser Foundation Health Plans works with employers, employees, and individual members to offer prepaid health plans. (Not-for-profit.)
Kaiser Foundation Hospitals operates medical centers in three states and outpatient facilities throughout Kaiser Permanente's footprint. (Not-for-profit.)
Permanente Medical Groups is an association of Kaiser Permanente's physicians. (For-profit.)
The history of Kaiser Permanente dates to 1933 in Desert Center, California. There, Garfield opened the Contractors General Hospital, with a total of twelve beds, to treat construction workers building the Los Angeles Aqueduct in the Mojave Desert. The hospital was in a precarious financial state, fueled by Garfield's desire to treat all patients, regardless of their ability to pay. Harold Hatch, an insurance agent, proposed that the insurance companies pay the hospital a total amount, in advance, for each worker covered. The financial relationship between the insurance companies and the hospital was efficient, and allowed Garfield to focus on a new idea: preventative health care.
Intrigued by the concept developed by Hatch and Garfield in the Mojave Desert, Kaiser persuaded Garfield to open a prepaid practice for his construction workers building the Grand Coulee Dam in Washington state, in 1938. Coverage was later made available to the families of the workers.
In 1942, Garfield again works with Kaiser to establish health plans for workers and families at shipyards in San Francisco, California and Vancouver, Washington, and at a steel mill in Fontana, California, all operations managed by Kaiser. In 1945, membership in the health plans are opened to the public. However, in 1946, the shipyards close, with membership dropping to 25,000, from a height of 200,000.
Between 1952 and 1955, membership doubles to 500,000, as Kaiser Permanente works with union leaders to extend healthcare to all unionized employees. The organization also clarifies its organization structure, which is relatively unchanged today.
By 1958, Kaiser Permanente expands beyond its existing three regions in Northern California, Southern California, and Oregon, to Hawaii. Fueled by growth in each of these four regions, membership reaches one million in 1963.
Membership doubles to two million by 1968, and a year later two new regions are developed in Colorado and Ohio. Nine years later, in 1976, membership reaches three million.
In 1977, four years after the signing of the Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973, all six of Kaiser Permanente's regions become federally-qualified HMOs.
In 1980, Kaiser Permanente acquired a non-profit group practice to create the Mid-Atlantic region, encompassing the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. A year later, membership reaches four million.
In 1985, Kaiser Permanente began operations in Georgia, creating its eighth region. Two years later, membership hits five million.
In 1995, the organization celebrated its fiftieth year of offering public health plans. Two years later, membership reaches nine million.
In 1997, the organization established an agreement with the AFL-CIO to provide for a more positive relationship between management and labor.
In 1999, a number of groups sued the organization over its “In the Hands of Doctors” advertising campaign. The groups charged that doctors were not fully in control of decision making, or that they were persuaded to limit care with financial bonuses. Kaiser Permanente pulled the ads, and in 2003 agreed to settle the claims by publicly publishing the guidelines under which its doctors make patient care decisions.
In 2004, Kaiser Permanente launched a broad campaign titled “Thrive.” The television, radio, billboard, print, and web campaign focuses on a mission of the organization, preventitive care. Television and radio spots feature voiceovers from actress Allison Janney. The campaign was the first since the organization pulled its “In the Hands of Doctors” campaign. This is an Article on Kaiser Permanente. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About Kaiser Permanente Structure
History