A mong American health care delivery systems, Kaiser Permanente is widely recognized for its ability to promote the principles and practice of evidence-based medicine throughout its system of some 10,000 physicians. That ability to harness the power of EBM principles in the interest of practicing comprehensive care management derives in large part from the fact that Kaiser Permanente has created a unique, pioneering institution with a mandate to drive, fund, and support evidence-based care management. Drawing on the extensive clinical experience, research, and data of an integrated care health system with 9 million members, CMI synthesizes knowledge about the best clinical approaches in order to create, implement, and evaluate effective and efficient care management programs. These regional staff provide dedicated support for CMI implementation projects, assuring that performance measures for specific clinical priorities are achieved.
Staff also build data registries to define and track disease populations in the regions.
The registries produce paper reports and on-line services, support care management tools, and provide feedback to physicians about their patients. In creating and implementing its care management programs, CMI incorporates the principles of evidence-based medicine, and also teaches EBM concepts and skills to physicians and other clinicians. These clinical priorities were selected because they represent a great opportunity to improve care for members, as well as to improve cost effectiveness. These studies are unique both for their size and their level of detail. The outcomes reports serve as internal Kaiser Permanente benchmarking tools.