Kaiser Permanente announces completion of HealthConnect effort

OAKLAND, Calif. Kaiser Permanente announced recently that all of its 8.7 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia are now covered by an outpatient electronic health record, called HealthConnect.

Also, all of Kaiser Permanente’s 13,000 physicians now have electronic access to their patients’ medical records in every one of their 421 medical offices/clinics.

HealthConnect has improved patient safety, coordination of care, as well as enhancing documentation, facilitating clinical decision making and adherence to evidence-based clinical guidelines, and provider and operational efficiency. After the implementation of HealthConnect in the outpatient setting, Kaiser Permanente reported an immediate and marked increase in the efficiency of outpatient care, in large part due to now-24/7 availability of members’ clinical information at every member contact.

Members began using secure messaging and increased utilization of telephone visits—in lieu of in-person visits. Physicians reported that, in many cases, EHRs enabled them to identify and resolve patients’ health issues in the first contact. One survey showed that, with the use of EHRs, medication administration times and doses were more legible and correct (85 percent), and clinicians believed the electronic medication administration system provided a safer and more reliable communication tool (75 percent).

“The implementation of a system this complex, this broadly and deeply in an organization of our size is unprecedented, so I am extremely proud of this accomplishment,” said Jack Cochran, executive director of The Permanente Federation.