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Southern California Clinics Seek to Improve Quality of Care Through Technological Advances; Study Underway at 50 Southern California Community Clinics To Improve Access and Care for the Uninsured

Posted on: Wednesday, 24 May 2006, 18:00 CDT

Kaiser Permanente, L.A. Care Health Plan, and UniHealth Foundation have started a new program designed to work with community clinics in Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange, San Bernardino, Imperial and Kern counties to investigate the role of technology to improve health care quality and delivery. The Building Clinic Capacity for Quality in Southern California (BCCQ) research initiative seeks to improve community clinic efficiency so more uninsured patients can be seen at Southern California clinics.

BCCQ will begin with an assessment of each clinic's readiness to implement new technology such as electronic health records and disease registries. The study will determine ways to serve California's growing safety-net population by educating clinic management in new strategies and technology to improve quality of care.

"We constantly seek to leverage the benefits of technology to improve the clinical outcomes in the treatment of our patients," said Diana Bonta, vice president of public affairs for Kaiser Permanente. "This program will help bring those benefits and results to a broader population."

The clinic assessments will be managed by Object Health management consultants. Each clinic will work with a team of consultants to receive recommendations in the following areas: organizational vision, leadership, technology, and quality improvement. The assessment will provide educational materials related to adoption models and health information technologies.

"Information gathered from these assessments will help determine trends and methods to improve clinic capacity for quality healthcare across the region," said Mary Odell, president of UniHealth Foundation. "These projects have a direct impact on the health and well being of the individuals in the communities in which we live."

"Safety net clinics are an important source of care for our most vulnerable patients, and clinics have few resources to invest in technology that can improve the care they provide," said Dr. Elaine Batchlor, Chief Medical Officer at L.A. Care Health Plan. "This program will help participating clinics assess how technology can improve operational efficiency and quality of care."

The program will culminate with an all-day learning event on October 25 during which clinics will have the opportunity to network and share new strategies to improve access and care delivery in their clinics.

About Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is America's leading integrated health plan. Founded in 1945, it is a nonprofit, group practice prepayment program with Southern California headquarters in Pasadena, California. Kaiser Permanente serves the health care needs of 3.2 million members in Southern California. Today it encompasses the nonprofit Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and their subsidiaries, and the for-profit Southern California Permanente Medical Group. Kaiser Permanente's Southern California Region includes more than 49,919 technical, administrative and clerical employees and caregivers, and more than 6,000 physicians representing all specialties.

http://www.kaiserpermanente.org

L.A. Care Health Plan

L.A. Care Health Plan (Local Initiative Health Authority of Los Angeles County) is a local public agency and health plan serving residents of Los Angeles County through a variety of programs including Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, and Healthy Kids. With nearly 800,000 enrolled members, L.A. Care is one of the largest health plans in California and is the nation's largest public health plan. L.A. Care is a leader in developing new programs through innovative coalitions and partnerships designed to support public health, the safety net, and health insurance coverage for vulnerable populations. For more information, please visit

www.lacare.org.

Object Health

Object Health is a management consulting group that assists health care organizations and communities with leveraging health information to improve operational efficiencies and clinical health outcomes by addressing the intersection of technical and strategic issues of managing health care information. The group works with healthcare foundations and organizations focused on bridging the gap between clinical information technology solutions, health care delivery and health care payer organizations in their efforts to achieve improved quality and efficiency of care through successful adoption of clinical information technology within communities and regions.

www.objecthealth.com

UniHealth Foundation

UniHealth Foundation is a private independent healthcare foundation. The foundation is committed to becoming a pace-setter in healthcare philanthropy, supporting innovative activities while provoking and sustaining changes that positively impact health. Its mission is to support and facilitate activities that significantly improve the health and well being of the individuals and communities it serves.

www.unihealthfoundation.org

Source: Business Wire

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