KAISER PERMANENTE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AMONG THE TOP 10 COMMERCIAL AND MEDICARE HEALTH PLANS IN THE COUNTRY

National Committee for Quality Assurance ranks multiple Kaiser Permanente regions among the Top 20 in the nation in its 2012 survey of clinical excellence

Oakland, CA, September 20, 2012 – Kaiser Permanente Northern California is the 8^th best commercial health plan in the country – and the 3^rd best Medicare plan -- in the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s 2012 ranking of health plans in the U.S.

In all, six Kaiser Permanente regions around the country are in the Top 20 of the 474 commercial health plans ranked in the NCQA survey, and seven of them are in the Top 20 of 395 Medicare plans that appear in this year’s report.

Kaiser Permanente Northern California is the highest ranked commercial plan in the state, and scored among the Top 10 in the nation in 20 of the 49 national measures of clinical excellence covered in the survey. These measures include screening for cancer, diabetes and hypertension; management of high blood pressure; and screening and management of Body Mass Index (BMI).

“The NCQA’s annual rankings are based on a wide range of real and meaningful clinical indicators, and they showcase the high quality of health care Kaiser Permanente physicians, nurses and staff provide to our members and patients,” said Gregory Adams, regional president of Kaiser Permanente Northern California. “Preventive care has been a cornerstone of the Kaiser Permanente model for more than 65 years, and by consistently screening for chronic conditions and catching and treating health problems early, we are helping our members and patients live full, active and productive lives.”

“Kaiser Permanente is the model for the future of American medicine, and the NCQA rankings provide further confirmation of the superiority of Kaiser Permanente's approach to health care and the excellence of its physicians and staff,” said Robert Pearl MD, executive director and CEO of  The Permanente Medical Group. “Through the personalized, coordinated and technologically advanced care, we have lowered the chances of our members dying from heart disease to 30 percent below the community around us, reduced mortality for patients admitted with sepsis by 50 percent since 2006, and dramatically reduced the risk of cancer. If all of America could match this performance, each year we could save more than 100,000 lives, make health care more convenient and reduce medical costs dramatically.”

The NCQA is a private, not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving health-care quality. Since its founding in 1990, NCQA has been a central figure in driving improvement throughout the health care system, helping to elevate the issue of health care quality to the top of the national agenda.

The NCQA health-plan rankings released today will be published in the Consumer Reports Web edition today, and will appear in the November print edition of the magazine.

To review the complete 2012 NCQA health-plan rankings, go to www.ncqa.org/rankings

About Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to   improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 9 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery   and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: kp.org/newscenter.