CAPP Physician Group: KAISER PERMANENTE
Project: AVIVIA HEALTH POPULATION MANAGEMENT PROGRAM:

Summary: Kaiser Permanente’s Avivia Health’s population management program leverages extensive historical population data to tailor outreach programs for employees with chronic illness to help them play a more proactive role in their own health care through coaching and health education. Initial trial in Georgia saved $7.5 million.

Kaiser Permanente recently launched Avivia Health (AH), which offers customized population management programs to employers to improve quality and financial outcomes, and to help employees and their dependents become better informed and engaged health care consumers.

Tested in Georgia, Avivia Health is an integrated suite of evidence-based care management programs for acute and chronic conditions that can be tailored to the characteristics of employers/purchasers and their beneficiaries. The goal is to empower the patient and reinforce the patient/doctor relationship. Through AH, patients play a more active, collaborative role in their healthcare and are enticed to take charge of their health.
Once an initial analysis of historical data and predictive modeling is conducted, areas of opportunity within an employer’s covered population are identified. A customized outreach campaign is then created to engage employees to participate, a step that can dramatically impact the overall effectiveness of the health care outcome.

Once involved, employees and their dependents can take advantage of 24/7 telephone health coaching (in multiple languages) and receive multi-channel support for their health concerns through Interactive Voice Recognition (IVR), web, DVDs, and print materials. Health education services are available for everything from nutrition, weight loss, smoking cessation, and stress reduction, to self-care and decision support for a variety of conditions.
In return, Avivia Health customers--which include large, national, self-funded employer groups/plan sponsors, and labor and trust unions--receive monthly activity reports for their employee population that provide an overview of the program, milestones, performance, and a rolling 12-month view.

An evaluation of AH during its first year in Georgia yielded positive results in clinical quality indicators, patient satisfaction, and financial return. Costs savings were in excess of $7.5 million. An independent third-party surveyed more than 500 participants, roughly half of whom had one or more chronic conditions. Of those surveyed, 87% were satisfied with the assistance they received from health coaches. Specific benefits that patients noted included improved ability to talk to their doctor (72% of users), improved quality of care (86%), and improved ability to manage their own condition (74%).

For more information about this project, please contact Nancy Taylor, The Permanente Federation, at (510) 271-6995.

“Obama Visits Clinic Known for Quality Care, Controlling Costs,” by David Brown, The Washington Post, July 23, 2009

The Post takes a more in-depth look at The Cleveland Clinic, a CAPP medical group, that was touted by President Obama as a model of health care efficiency and quality.

See full story

“Yes, models for cost-efficient health care do exist,” by Jim Landers, The Dallas Morning News, July 28, 2009

CAPP group Scott & White is featured in this article that reviews some of the Dartmouth findings on organizations that can curb health care costs.

See full story

“Atul Gawande: The Cost Conundrum Redux,” by Atul Gawande, The New Yorker, June 23, 2009.

Gawande responds to the skeptics of his highly publicized New Yorker article.

See full story

“The Cost Conundrum: What a Texas town can teach us about health care,” by Atul Gawande, The New Yorker, June 01, 2009

See full story

See archives here