Kaiser Permanente Botches Its Kidney Transplant Center Project

It was only a matter of time before a businessman in Virginia saw a way to profit from the success of transplantation. In 1983 H. Barry Jacobs announced the opening of a new exchange through which competent adults could buy and sell organs. His failing was in his decision to use needy immigrants as the source of the organs (Pence 36). As a result Congress, passed the National Organ Transplant Act (Public Law 98-507) in 1984, which prohibited the sale of human organs and violators would be subjected to fines and imprisonment (“Donation Details”).

McKesson, now “the world’s largest health care services company,” has a combined customer base of about 5000 hospitals, 25,000 retail pharmacies, 35,000 physician practices, 10,000 extended care sites, 450 pharmaceutical manufactures, and 2000 medical-surgical manufacturers (Chicago tribune 1998). Mckesson has a 13.2% market share of the Health Information Technology industry and employs roughly 37,000 people. Mckesson’s hospital information system solutions includes their electronic health record system (HER, Total Coordinated Care product suite, InterQual Decision support products,

This paper is going to focus on the importance of getting a better way for Medicare to handle the needs of transplant patients. The current situation isn’t a good one. The patients are the ones that suffer while the medical insurance companies and centers keep making more and more money. This is showing to me how much of the healthcare has turned to be about that. The transplant centers are needed but there is so much red tape that they have to go through to be approved by Medicare it makes it hard for them to open. What seems like should be an easy fix sure isn’t when you look into it.

As a managed care organization Kaiser Permanente has served as a model for informational healthcare systems and the recent demand for affordable care has prompted the organization to lower cost in services without hindering the quality of care. Kaiser Permanente has integrated a system in which the organization assumes all financial risk and a bundled enrollment fee for service strategy. What makes Kaiser Permanente unique from other HMOs is their accountability for quality, utilization management, financial risk, and business strategies (Kaiser Permanente, 2009).

Kaiser Permanente is a large nonprofit integrated healthcare plan. This organization serves a tremendous amount of patients all over the United States with more than 38 hospitals and more than 600 medical offices. They offer medical care from chronic care visits to deliveries and prescription refills ("Who We Are - Kaiser Permanente," n.d.) Kaiser Permanente conducts campaigns to spread their care knowledge to others. They perform sick care, prevention care, and treatment for those who need it.

Back in December of 2015, Kaiser Permanente planned to acquire Group Health Cooperative for 1.8 billion dollars with a proposition to invest $1 billion in new equipment, staff, facilities and research in hope to improve health in Washington state. In the Advisory Board’s article Eyeing growth, Kaiser announces first major acquisition in over a decade it says, “these deals are focused on delivering a better product to

Not only is the dilemma of inmates receiving organ transplants affecting physicians, but it affects all citizens equally, as well. It costs taxpayers ten and hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars to provide one prisoner with a transplant operation (“Organ transplants for,” 2011). “Efforts to ensure prisoner rights have compromised the lives of law-abiding taxpayers who are the state’s main source of income when it comes to paying for inmates’ medical bills” (Robinson).

Kaiser Permanente is a large health care delivery system that serves over eight million individuals across nine states, and the District of Columbia. In 1990 Kaiser Permanente developed a internet patient portal, KP Online. KP Online enabled members to make appointments, request prescription refills, seek clinical advice, obtain health care information, and interact with patients in forums.

Changes in current health care practices, the aging baby-boomer population, and the higher acuity of patients has created a need for change and adaptability with the health care industry. Kaiser is an organization who has shown the ability to continuously change in order to reduce costs while improving efficient quality patient care. The investment on information technology (IT) advancements such as the implantation of electronic health records (EHRs) and use of a patient portal system is one way the organization has shown readiness to meet the health care needs of patients. KP in collaboration with five other healthcare organizations created a Care Connectivity Consortium, enabling secure electronic retrieval of current

The case of Ledina Lushko, a patient enrolled in a Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois individual plan, highlights many of the issues that have plagued the United States healthcare system for some time. As an insurance plan provider, BCBS of Illinois takes pride in the health outcomes of our members and has a responsibility to contribute positively to their care. The fractured, ineffective care Mrs. Lushko received is disappointing, however, this case provides strong support for a shift in focus towards managed care and specifically, the Accountable Care Organization structure. The following details several aspects of Mrs. Lushko’s experience and how her care could have been improved by enrollment in BCBS of

Kaiser Permanente (KP) was founded in California in 1945. It is one of the largest non-profit healthcare organizations in the United States, made up of three entities: the Kaiser Foundation Hospital, the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and the Permanente Medical Groups. It currently serves about 9.1 members within the following states: California, Colorado, Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia, Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, and Georgia. With a few exceptions, it mostly operates under a managed care model, owning the physician network and the facilities its members use to receive medical services (Fast Facts, 2013).

On January 28, 2010, my uncle, James Campbell, became very ill. His kidney function was at less than 30% and he was immediately placed on the organ transplant waiting list. This information wasn’t readily shared with the rest of the family, and we all were very unaware of the dire circumstances. After watching my uncle’s health visibly deteriorate over the years, I inquired into what was wrong and more

Healthcare workers and the ethics board make tough decisions that impact the patient’s future, especially related to organ allocation. Organ transplantation is extremely important in order to save lives, prolong survival, and increase the quality of life (Beyar, 2017). Each year the number of people on the waiting list continues to rise at an alarming rate. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, organ donation statistics show that more than 116,000 people are awaiting organs. The number has risen significantly every year (Health Resources & Services Administration {HRSA}, 2016). In 2016, it was reported that approximately 41,335 organ donations were made, and

There are lists for everything, what to needs to be done for the day, what to buy at the grocery store, but there is one with more lasting implications. The organ transplant list is a lengthy list filled with hopeful patients waiting for their turn to receive the next available organ. Sadly, this increasing list overshadows the organ donation list which fails to meet the demand of organs required. “The United States has the most successful transplant program in the history of medicine, yet it lacks the proper amount of organs to transplant” (Chapman, Jeremy). This causes patients to wait weeks, months, sometimes years for their new replacement. Some patients die before they even come close to receiving an available organ, yet no movement for change has been made. This donation system should be revised and alternatives like incentives for donating organs should be implemented.

Located in nine states, KP currently is the largest not-for-profit medical care organization in the United States with approximately 8.7 million health plan members, 150,000 employees, 13,729 physicians, 32 medical centers, 416 medical offices, and $28 billion in annual operating revenue. Kaiser Permanente is unique among health care providers and hospitals because it serves both as a health maintenance organization and as a group physicians practice provider. Its revenue model is not based by the number of cases or patients served each day, but rather by the number of members enrolled in their health care system. Hence, Kaiser Permanente tracks costs at the gross level view of average cost per nursing unit per patient day.