The cost of care.

The increasing cost of healthcare in America can be attributed to a number of causes, but for many of us, the growing presence of computers at our doctor’s offices adds more to our monthly premiums than we might care to know about.

Kaiser Permanente is on track to spend over $2.6 billion this year on information technology, with about $825 million of that going directly towards our HealthConnect electronic health record project. That comes out to about $302 per member, or about 7.7 percent of our estimated total revenue per member. HealthConnect alone accounts for about $96 per member of that total.

To put those costs into perspective, we can look at the Veterans Health Administration, widely recognized as a leader in information technology in healthcare. At Kaiser Permanente, we often point out that HealthConnect would be “the largest civilian deployment of an electronic health record.” In fact, today, the largest electronic health record deployment in America can be found at the VA.

Like Kaiser Permanente, the VA is considered a much more efficient healthcare delivery system in the United States. This year, the effective cost, per member, for care at KP will be about $3,918. At the VA, the total cost, per patient will be about $5,388. For comparison, the national average will be about $6,300.

And, when it comes to information technology, the benefits of the VA’s technology approach are clear. Wyatt Andrews, with the CBS Evening News, recently reported (video) on the substantial progress being made throughout the VA medical system. Andrews reported: “In studies, including one by Harvard, and in six straight years of patient satisfaction surveys, the VA earned the highest health care quality rating in the country.”

Remember, Kaiser Permanente will spend $2.6 billion this year on information technology, or about $302 per member. At the VA, their total will come in at only $1.6 billion, or $296 per member. In contrast, the VA’s electronic health record system, VistA, compared to HealthConnect, is available in more than twice the number of facilities and is accessible, today, by 8,000 more physicians.

To better understand the efficiencies of the VA system, keep in mind that the VA has 163 medical centers, over 800 clinics, 135 nursing homes, and over 180,000 medical personnel and staff, virtually all of which utilize the VistA system.

By contrast, Kaiser Permanente has 37 medical centers, 400 medical offices, and nearly 162,000 physicians and staff. Only three of our medical centers can use HealthConnect to a similar extent to which the VA utilizes VistA, and only about half of our physicians currently have access to HealthConnect, compared, again, to effectively all of the VA’s hospitals, clinics, and physicians having access to VistA.

When it comes to efficiency, it is not often that we can look to the United States government for inspiration, let alone examples. But the VA is one case where we at Kaiser Permanente, and healthcare in general, can turn to for advice and guidance.

learn more  listen now  subscribe now