Kaiser Permanente honored for medication safety excellence

OAKLAND, Calif., May 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- For the tenth year in a row, Kaiser Permanente has earned the Pharmacy Quality Alliance Excellence in Quality Award for high achievement in medication safety and appropriate use.

This is the first year that Medicare health plans in all Kaiser Permanente regions received honors from the PQA, which presented the awards as part of its annual meeting held online May 13 to 15. The Excellence in Quality Award was presented to Kaiser Permanente Medicare health plans serving members in the states of California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, and Virginia, as well as Washington, D.C.

"We prioritize medication quality and effectiveness in all the care we provide our members," said Amy Gutierrez, PharmD, senior vice president and chief pharmacy officer for Kaiser Permanente. "The fact that all of our regions were honored this year speaks to the power of our integrated model and our enterprisewide strategies to ensure that medication quality is a key focus from both our pharmacy teams and all our care providers."

The 2020 PQA Excellence in Quality Award recognizes Medicare Advantage drug plans that achieve at least a 4.5-star Part D summary rating and a 5-star rating on all 5 PQA medication measures used in the 2020 CMS star ratings program.

In the most recent CMS Medicare star ratings, Kaiser Permanente Medicare health plans in California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, the Mid-Atlantic states (Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.), and Washington received 5 out of 5 stars, CMS' highest rating. The Kaiser Permanente Medicare plan in the Northwest earned 4.5 out of 5 stars, CMS' second-highest rating.

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, Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 12.4 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal Permanente Medical Group 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.

Contact:
Marc Brown
Kaiser Permanente
(510) 271-6328
[email protected]

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SOURCE Kaiser Permanente