Kevin Kissinger
Ezra Pearson
Jeffrey Kim
Loyola Marymount University
Ingrid Greene
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Kaiser Permanente has long stood as a leader of innovation and sustainability in the medical field so it seemed like a natural company to explore further after hearing about the Aim2Flourish initiative. The SDGs that we will unpack in this report are good health and well being, sustainable cities and communities, climate action, and responsible consumption. Kaiser Peramnente prioritized inclusive healthcare practices regardless of ones race or gender. They have evolved beyond the traditional healthcare paradigms and remained at the forefront in their progressive initiatives. Kaiser has consistently championed innovation, sustainability, and social responsibility. In this report, we will begin by discussing the innovation Kaiser Permanente has demonstrated throughout its history then transition to talking about what inspired the companies founders and current initiatives. We will then discuss the impact the business has had on its community and how this benefited the business, society, and the environment.
Kaiser Permanente’s goal is to provide efficient, affordable, high quality care to its members across the nation. The SDGs good health and well being, sustainable cities and communities, climate action, and responsible consumption and production are very apparent in their business. They have teams of employees dedicated to improving their systems and processes in order to achieve their goal.
Kaiser believes that good health starts in the community. They undertake a plethora of actions to ensure that their communities are cared for including partnering with community organizations to sponsor events, assisting at food banks, providing family violence prevention programs, and joining with partners to improve access to affordable housing.
The company also plays its part in minimizing their environmental impact. They focus on five main categories which are climate action, safer products, sustainable food, waste reduction, and water conservation. In 2020, they became carbon neutral which was the equivalent of taking 175,000 cars off the road. Since 2013, they have decreased their water usage by 13% through the use of recycling. They avoid 1,500 tons of plastic waste by using reusable sharps containers for their syringes. These are just a few examples of what Kaiser does to promote the SDGs.
A more specific instance of Kaiser putting the SDGs into action can be seen when one of their teams in Orange County, California, employed a system to enhance their ophthalmology department. Carmina Kissinger, a project manager on the team, walked us through their project.
An eye injury called floaters and flashers posed a large issue for the department. This injury causes a patient to see bursts, lines, or streaks in their vision. It is dangerous because it can potentially lead to the retina detaching.
The patients with this injury need to be helped in an efficient and timely manner. However, there were problems with determining if the patient needed to be seen right away or wait to have a regular visit due to the ophthalmologist lacking information to determine how severe the case was. It was time consuming pulling information about the patient from different places in their medical record. Sometimes, the proper information would not even be there at all.
A team of doctors, department administrators, workflow consultants, and project managers came together to address the issue at hand. Their solution came in the form of a smartphrase that a doctor creating a referral to an ophthalmologist could enter on their computers in order to trigger a set of questions that would appear in a patient's medical record. These questions included things such as: how long has the problem been happening, what is your degree of pain, and have you had eye problems in the past.
As a result, all the information would be stored in one place and the ophthalmologist could determine the right care a patient should receive, and the right time they should receive it.
Kaiser Permanente was founded in 1945 by the surgeon Sidney R. Garfield and the industrialist Henry J. Kaiser. From the beginning, the company prioritized wellness and health. In 1941, America entered WWII. Garfield created and staffed first aid stations and field hospitals at Kaiser’s shipyards to ensure families and workers remained healthy. These facilities broke barriers as they were fully racially integrated and there was no discrimination based on gender. After WWII ended in 1945, the two wanted to continue delivering quality affordable healthcare and Kaiser Permanente was born.
This set a precedent for how the company would continue to operate. It is very inclusive with its hires and has been a leader in advancing healthcare technology and systems throughout the years. As evidenced by the project discussed, Kaiser is always looking for ways to improve its methods for the good of the employees in the company as well as the members it serves.
Before this innovation was put into effect, the process would be difficult for doctors to determine when a patient needed to be seen and how severe their injury was. However, this project changed that for them. Carmina Kissinger stated, “Instead of 15 minutes, within 15 seconds they can determine if a patient should be seen right away. Therefore, avoiding any worse damage to the individual’s eye, worst case blindness.”
This has allowed for doctors to be more efficient. They no longer have to scramble around a patient's medical record in order to find the information they need. It is all stored in one place now, making it very easy to determine how the patient should be cared for. This is also good for the patient as they are able to receive the right care at the right time in order to avoid any worsening of their eye.
The workflow consultants are able to monitor how well the process has been doing and are able to make adjustments if necessary. So far, Kissinger says that the process has been going well and there has been a clear improvement in the efficiency of the ophthalmology department.
The business benefits from this by improving their process for their doctors. It helps them achieve their goal of providing high quality healthcare. Kissinger states, “It provides better service and quality for the patient because the doctors are basically communicating the patient problems more efficiently.” It fixes any major miscommunications that were present in this process. It also built better trust among the employees of the hospitals, as they know they can rely on each other through the use of this smartphrase system.
The automation of this cumbersome process is something that can be scaled to other departments in the Orange County hospitals. It can also be spread to other sectors of Kaiser so that the entire corporation can run more efficiently. If teams keep coming together to improve their methods like this, healthcare services will continue to be refined.
Society benefits from this work because the patients are able to avoid any worsening to their injury. They are able to have their sight preserved by being taken care of by Kaiser properly. No patients fall through the cracks with this system in place. Overall, the quality of care is better because the doctors have more info.
Kaiser’s work in the community also has great benefits for all. Their strong belief that good healthcare starts in the community is very present in their work. They help build up the communities they serve through their advocacy and programs for gun violence prevention, housing, family violence prevention and many others. Their support for the environment is also evident through the numerous measures they take to remain eco friendly. Their efforts to conserve water, reduce waste, and going carbon neutral are all examples of how their work benefits the environment.
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Carmina Kissinger, Project Manager
