ROCKVILLE, Md., Oct. 22, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Yolanda "Lonny" Catalan is a breast cancer survivor. As a Kaiser Permanente member, Lonny has a physician who carefully tracks her preventive care including her breast cancer screenings. Lonny's lucky. Her doctor insisted she have her cancer screening, and her cancer was caught in time. But it's not just luck that saved Lonny's life. Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States is number 1 in the nation out of nearly 500 commercial health plans for breast cancer screening, according to the recently released 2013 National Committee for Quality Assurance's Quality Compass® data. This is the second year in a row that Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States was number 1 in the U.S. for breast cancer screening.
The Quality Compass data assesses the performance of national health plans on 43 important clinical and service standards. The Quality Compass database includes scores from the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set, or HEDIS, a tool that is used by more than 90 percent of America's health plans to measure performance on important dimensions of care and service.
"We know preventive medicine saves lives. In fact, if the rest of the country screened as well as Kaiser Permanente, there would be almost 12,000 fewer breast cancer deaths every year, reducing the annual mortality rate by nearly 30 percent," saidKim Horn, president, Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States. "HEDIS is the gold standard for measuring health care performance, and we're proud to be a national leader."
HEDIS results show that Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States is also number one in the nation for several other indicators:
- Comprehensive Diabetes Care - Eye Exams
- Comprehensive Diabetes Care - Medical Attention for Nephropathy
- Childhood Immunization Status - Combo 4
- Childhood Immunization Status - Hepatitis A
"It's not by chance that we lead the nation on these measures. Our physicians are among the highest rated doctors not only in the region, but also in the country," said Bernadette Loftus, MD, Associate Executive Director, The Permanente Medical Group. "Only the best physicians can become Kaiser Permanente doctors. That level of expertise, coupled with our smart use of electronic medical records, streamlines care and gives our members the best care experience possible – far better than what others provide."
In March, Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States was ranked "Highest Member Satisfaction among Commercial Health Plans in the Mid-Atlantic Region," for the fifth year in a row by J.D. Power.*
Additionally, the 2013 Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) survey results showed that Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States' members rated both their primary care doctors and specialists higher than any other health plan in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C. This survey has become the national standard for measuring and reporting on consumers' satisfaction with their health plans.
As a member, Lonny Catalan can attest to Kaiser Permanente's effective model of care.
"I will never forget the doctors at Kaiser. They all saved my life," said Catalan, a resident of Prince George's County, Maryland. "They all worked together. It was like the system was put together to assist me when I needed it most. So I was able to go through this experience with ease."
For more information about 2013 HEDIS scores, click here. For more information about Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States, visit kp.org/midatlantic.
