How does your organization's OE and SP compare to those of competitors (affecting your level of profitability or performance relative to others)?

Kaisers OE and SP compares extremely well in regards to its competitors. As a matter of fact, their OE and SP compare so well that healthcare organizations in the UK are trying to implement this system. In todays age, where healthcare reform is critical , developing activites that make your organization run more effectively is important. Their strong emphasis on preventive care reduces hospital costs  therefore increasing profits. Second by having in patient facilities and ambulatory centers, Kaiser is able to plan care by shifting care from in patient facilities to ambulatory care centers more effectively. By providing excellent financial planning from the excellent demand forecast, Kaiser is able to be a front runner in the healthcare industry. By having excellent insurance plans and excellent preventive care, Kaiser is able to defend off competitors. By saving funds with though avoidable hospitalizations, Kaiser is able to spend that money with R&D and staff training.  It seems as though Kaiser In regards to performace, sharing capital knowledge has improved help other manage care health organizations. By sharing this capital knowledge, Kaiser is able to reduce the risk of future healthcare problems for the company and other organizations, therefore improving performace. As an organization, Kaiser's operational effectiveness is achieved by aligning the strategy of the organizations with the talents of the management team. By capatilizing on team members talents, Kaiser has been able to excel in the field of organizational effectiveness. With the CEO placing individuals who have these talents, one is able to communicate these goals to other team members. If you were to look at the structure of Kaiser, it looks more of like a team where everyone buys into the mission statement.

SECA 1A- Is your organization's strategy focused primarily on cost leadership or product differentiation?

I feel that Kaiser organization strategy is primarly focused on product differation which helps them drive cost leadership. For example, by focusing mainly on preventive care plans, Kaiser is able to use product differation to save cost. By implementing programs which treat the early stages of diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure, Kaiser is able to save on the more expensive cost such as hospitalizations,medications, and medical staff. By being able to save on such things as hospitalizations and medications, membership fees are decreased giving Kaiser a cost leadership in the market.

To what extent to does your organization achieve an effective Strategic Positioning?

Kaiser Permenante, a managed care consortium, achieves effective strategic planning in the healthcare industry in several ways. The first way that Kaiser achieves effective strategic planning is through service.  This service is mainly employed in consumer transactions.  Patients are allowed to make hospital appointments online, check lab results online, and communicate promptly with their physician via email/phone/in-person. Two, Kaiser has achieved effective strategic planning through their quality of care. Eventhough every hospital states that they are number one in quality of services, Kaiser publishes their federal and state performance data so that consumers know that they stand tall on this list. Three, access has allowed Kaiser to have an effective strategic plan by having several in-patient hospitals and ambulatory care centers within a given region. This allows consumers to have access  a physician 24 hours a day, 365 days, from anywhere in a given county, city or town. This access is furthered by having an on site pharmacy  where the patient can pick up their prescription at the point of transcation. In this way, the patient does not have to leave the facility and drive to the local CVS to pick up their prescription. Four, Kaiser has been very innovative in their preventive health care programs. By being involved in diabetic and obesity research. Kaiser has been able to develop plans to help reduce the amount of diabetic and heart related diseases seen in a given region. This is also seen by their standard to have up to date radiology equipment and state of the operating rooms. By stating in tune with these innovations in technology, Kaiser physicians are able to provide a high level of care.

To what extent does your organization achieve Operational Effectiveness (OE)?

Kaiser Permenante, a non-profit healthcare organization, achieves operational effectiveness through several ways. For example, Kaiser is consistently involved in sharing intellectual capital with community hospitals. This prevents Kaiser from readmitting their own patients but also does not bog the medicare/Medicaid system with readmission of their own patients.  Secondly, Kaiser has also been able to achieve operational effectiveness through their labor management partnership. With an effective labor management partnership, Kaiser has been able to have decrease staff turnover rate which is approximately two percent.  The union has been able to negotiate adequate benefits which have prevented frequent turnover which can be very costly to an organization. For example, this can prevent nursing strikes which can be very detrimental to patient care/safety. Third, electronic medical records have allowed Kaiser Permenante to operate more effectively by being able to save the medical staff time. Instead of the medical staff spending time to fax/email a patient charts/X-rays/lab results, a physician is able to obtain patient charts, X-rays, and lab results to react right away, which can be a difference in saving a life. Electronic medical records also cut down on mistakes made by medical staff personnel. This is seen when physicians write prescriptions that can now be clearly understood by pharmacists or nurses. Before EMR, nurses and pharmacists have sometimes misunderstood physician handwriting which has led to the wrong medication being dispersed.  Last but not least, Kaiser Permenante has been improved their operational effectiveness by their implementation of simulation labs. These labs are used for teaching courses such as CPR, Advanced Life Support, and improving critical hospital scenarios.   These simulation labs cut down the cost of personnel who were once needed to teach these courses and improve the efficiency of the medical staff by being readily available for practice.