Kaiser Permanente was designed at the outset to integrate evidence-based health care and prepaid financing of coverage to coordinate care across all settings and care teams. This allows our clinicians to focus on delivering the right care, at the right time, and in the right setting to produce better health outcomes.

Unlike fee-for-service health systems, our care model focuses on keeping people healthy while also restoring them to health after injury or illness. For nearly 80 years, this has helped Kaiser Permanente set the standard for delivering compassionate, evidence-based care in the United States.

Measuring quality

We are exploring new ways to create accountability in quality and quality improvement.

We’re working with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation to assess years of life lost due to specific health conditions. This work has the potential to transform how health care quality is measured and how value is shown.

We’ve implemented systems to measure the quality of our care based on health outcomes, and we’re examining those outcomes through the lens of race and ethnicity.

Better disease survival rates

A recently published study found that Kaiser Permanente members have better 5-year survival rates for breast, colorectal, and lung cancers compared to national averages from the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program. Reflecting our commitment to equitable care, the study showed no measurable disparities among racial and ethnic groups in how we screen for or deliver cancer treatment for members with these types of cancers.

In 2023, Kaiser Permanente was invited to join a national collaboration in support of the White House’s Cancer Moonshot. The initiative, known as CancerX, aims to leverage digital innovation to tackle disparities and financial challenges in cancer care and research.

We’re on track to reach our goal of a 50% reduction in colorectal cancer mortality within 10 years. That’s much faster than the initial timeline of 25 years outlined in the Cancer Moonshot goal.

Quality ratings

Multiple independent organizations continued to rate our quality of care among the nation’s highest.

The 2023 National Committee for Quality Assurance annual report rated our Medicare and commercial health plans highest or tied for highest in every geographic region we serve. In fact, for the eighth time in a row we have more 5-star (the highest rating) and 4.5-star plans combined than any other health care organization in the country.

In addition, our hospitals are regularly named among the nation’s best. In its annual analysis of hospital performance, U.S. News & World Report’s 2023–24 Best Hospitals report ranked all 39 of our hospitals as “high performing” for one or more measures, such as stroke treatment, heart failure treatment, and colon cancer surgery. High performers are among the top 10% to 20% of all hospitals rated.

In 2023, our hospitals continued to be among the best in the nation for maternity care. Kaiser Permanente hospitals have been recognized for the excellent care our teams provide to our members and patients during pregnancy and childbirth. Our 2023 recognition includes:

• All eligible hospitals designated Birthing-Friendly by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
• 28 hospitals on Newsweek’s list of America’s Best Maternity Hospitals
• 17 hospitals rated “high performing” for maternity care by U.S. News & World Report
• 10 California hospitals on Cal Hospital Compare’s Maternity Care Honor Roll

In August 2023, we opened our 40th hospital, the San Marcos Medical Center, a 433,000-square-foot facility serving Kaiser Permanente members and patients across San Diego County.

In December 2023, South Sacramento Medical Center became the 11th Kaiser Permanente medical center to earn Magnet with Distinction® recognition. The designation recognizes nursing excellence that helps lead to better care for patients and high levels of safety and quality. Fewer than 10% of health care organizations in the U.S. have earned Magnet designation.

Addressing staffing shortages

The COVID-19 pandemic left significant challenges in its wake, affecting health care across the country. Millions of people have left their jobs in health care since 2020, causing staffing shortages.

Many members postponed care during the height of the pandemic, creating a backlog for services. Costs increased for goods and services, including pharmaceuticals.

Kaiser Permanente and every health care organization in the nation continue to address these challenges to deliver the care patients need.

In 2023, we made great strides to fill staffing shortages, address care delays, and improve our members’ experiences.

At Kaiser Permanente, we’re building a healthier, more equitable future for every life we touch. Our work begins with our physicians and employees and extends to our members, patients, and communities.

Our diverse workforce

Our organization strives to ensure that our workforce reflects the diversity of the patients and communities we serve. Having a diverse and inclusive workforce makes Kaiser Permanente a better place to receive health care, a stronger community partner, and a more rewarding place to work.

In 2023, nearly 7 out of 10 of our employees were members of underrepresented racial, ethnic, and cultural groups. And, 3 in 4 were women.

High-quality, equitable care

Our members deserve high-quality, equitable care — care that allows them to live their healthiest lives. We help ensure our care is equitable by making quality improvements and using new ways to measure quality.

We’re working to measure the quality of our care based on health outcomes and considering the social and equity factors that play a critical role. In 2023, we reviewed our care quality outcomes by race and ethnicity for:

• Common types of cancer
• Leading causes of cardiovascular deaths
• Response to depression
• Maternal mortality

We also increased our focus on Medicaid members in 2023. Among this population, we’re looking at:

• Childhood immunizations
• Colon cancer screenings
• Cervical cancer screenings
• Blood pressure management
• Diabetes management
• Pregnancy care
• Care for people who recently gave birth
• Depression screenings and follow-ups

At the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine we educate diverse students to be tomorrow’s doctors.

Among the graduating class of 2024 about 1 in 3 students identified as members of underrepresented or underserved groups. For the class of students who will graduate in 2026, nearly half identify as members of underrepresented or underserved groups.

Students learn about the social and environmental factors that affect the health of under-resourced, underserved, and culturally diverse people.

Social health

To reduce health inequities, we support our members’ social health needs. Social health is being able to take care of your basic needs, like having a safe place to live, healthy food to eat, and good relationships.

In 2023, we launched the Kaiser Permanente Community Support Hub. It offers an online directory of community resources. Anyone can use it to search for local help with housing, food, utilities, and more. The hub helps people meet their basic needs so they can achieve good health.

People who would like more hands-on support locating resources in their communities can call the hub’s toll-free call center during hours of operation to talk to a specialist. We also work to identify members in need of help. We offer help enrolling people in community-based resources and government aid programs.

Our Food Is Medicine program helps get healthy food to people who are at risk of hunger or have diet-related diseases. We’re also a leading proponent of the national Food Is Medicine movement. We advanced the movement in 2023 by investing in our communities and forging new partnerships.

We also continued to research new ways to use food as medicine. We finished a large clinical study on a program to deliver fresh produce every week to a group of low-income patients with diabetes. Early results found that patients in the program had significantly lower blood sugar (A1C) levels after 6 months. This is especially meaningful because the patients in the program were from diverse backgrounds, had high risk, and had low incomes.

Since our founding in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has been an innovator in providing care and coverage and preventing disease. Health care changes at a rapid pace. We focus on technologies, processes, and care approaches that benefit our patients, members, and communities.

We tailor our care to help meet our members’ needs and preferences. Our members can access the same high-quality care, however, whenever they engage with Kaiser Permanente.

Personalized care through digital options

In 2023, we offered our 24/7 virtual care option on kp.org to even more members. With 24/7 virtual care, our members can get convenient, high-quality care for certain conditions from a Kaiser Permanente clinician — without an appointment.

During a phone or video visit, the clinician can review the member’s electronic health record. That way, the clinician can use the member’s medical history to inform care decisions.

At Kaiser Permanente, our members can often choose between in-person care and telehealth options, such as online appointments and video visits. Among our members, 30% choose telehealth when given the choice. That’s twice as many as people who receive care outside of Kaiser Permanente.

Overall, in 2023, our members participated in a total of 6.9 million video visits. Members have rated their telehealth experience on average 4.5 out of 5 stars in after-visit surveys.

Artificial intelligence in health care

New tools that use artificial intelligence have the potential to significantly improve health for all.

At Kaiser Permanente, the AI tools we use don’t make medical decisions. Our physicians and care teams do.

We’re taking a thoughtful approach to developing responsible AI practices and selecting tools that support our care providers, patients, and employees.

The rapid pace of innovation in AI and the growing complexity of these technologies demand that we assess both the benefits and risks. We are creating a responsible AI framework to ensure we meet the highest standards for safety, privacy, effectiveness, and equity. We are establishing quality oversight for all AI applications across the organization.

In 2023, we began working with other health care leaders, policymakers, and regulators to foster public confidence in the ethical use of AI tools. We believe our work will help ensure the responsible use of AI across the health care industry.

For example, we participated in the National Academy of Medicine Health Care AI Code of Conduct project. It’s an initiative to provide a guiding framework for AI algorithms and their application in health, medical care, and health research. These technologies must perform accurately, equitably, safely, reliably, and ethically in the service of better health for all.

A core part of our mission is to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We strive to do this through a range of approaches — for example, by investing directly in programs and communities, providing grants, subsidizing care, and partnering with community organizations and others.

Helping people get the care they need

Health care in America continues to be unaffordable for too many people. In 2023, we provided free or low-cost health coverage through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program to over 1.4 million people, including children and low-income families, pregnant people, older adults, and people with disabilities.

We also provided health care coverage to over 13,000 people through our Charitable Health Coverage programs. These programs help people with low incomes who don’t have access to other coverage. And our Medical Financial Assistance program helped 403,000 patients pay for their health care in 2023 — amounting to more than $668 million in health care coverage.

Through grants, training, and technical assistance, we work with safety-net hospitals and health centers to improve care quality, increase capacity, and expand access to health care beyond Kaiser Permanente. In 2023, we supported over 80 health care safety-net organizations across our communities.

Supporting school health and well-being

Through our Thriving Schools initiative, we partner with K-12 schools and districts to improve the health and well-being of teachers, staff, students, and their families.

In 2023, we supported over 5,000 existing and 450 new school and district partners. We encouraged positive and healthy school environments.

Our award-winning Educational Theatre Program served over 90,000 students, teachers, and staff in 2023 with theatrical programs that encourage healthy choices.

Protecting the environment

Our environmental stewardship is anchored in protecting and promoting the health of our communities. Climate change poses a health threat for everyone. While no one is safe from the effects of climate change, people of color and people with low incomes are at greater risk.

In 2023, we continued to work on a variety of goals to reduce our environmental impact by controlling our use of energy and water, reducing waste, and making better purchasing decisions. We supported the National Academy of Medicine with a grant to create a climate and health research agenda. The research agenda will build and expand on solutions to protect against the negative impacts climate change has on health.

We opened our LEED Platinum San Marcos Medical Center in San Diego County. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Platinum is the highest level of certification.

The 7-story San Marcos facility uses cutting-edge technologies to produce its own electricity in the event of a power outage. Its irrigation system saves 400,000 gallons of water each month.

Our Santa Rosa Medical Offices in Santa Rosa, California, are the nation’s first medical facility to achieve net-zero energy as well as net-zero carbon status.

Preventing gun violence

Gun violence is a public health crisis that has devastating short- and long-term effects on physical, mental, and emotional health.

In 2023, we expanded our work to address gun violence by pledging $25 million over 5 years to our Center for Gun Violence Research and Education.

The center, in collaboration with the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention, supports equitable research and education. The goal is to identify root causes of firearm injuries — and how to prevent them.

Strengthening public health

In 2023, we joined 4 other leading health care organizations to form a coalition to strengthen our nation's public health system.  The Common Health Coalition will help health care organizations better collaborate with and support public health agencies. This collaboration will advance health equity and better prepare our communities for emergencies.

Health care leaders, clinicians, and policymakers need current, relevant, and reliable research and evidence to meet public health needs. We partnered with AcademyHealth to develop a renewed public health services research agenda. The research agenda highlights current information gaps and research priorities.

Addressing social factors that affect health

People need safe places to live, enough money to pay the bills, access to healthy meals, and other daily essentials to be healthy. We call it social health.

To support our members’ social health, we launched our Community Support Hub in 2023. The hub connects people to community-based resources and government assistance programs that can help them meet their basic needs.

To help people afford and eat healthier food, we continued our Food Is Medicine strategy. We invested in multiple national and community-based initiatives. For example, we partnered with the American Heart Association, the Food is Medicine Institute at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, and other organizations to promote the adoption of food-based interventions in health care. Our work supports the federal government’s goals to end hunger and increase healthy eating by 2030.

People with stable housing are better able to manage ongoing health conditions, and they have fewer infectious diseases and mental health conditions. We worked throughout 2023 to address housing insecurity in our communities. Through our partnership with Community Solutions, 12 of the 37 communities where we partner have sustained reductions in homelessness.

Inclusive economic growth is fundamental to individual and community health. In 2023, we expanded economic opportunities through financial coaching, career pathways, and entrepreneurship support.

We supported 478 nonprofits as they helped over 46,000 people with low incomes improve their household and business finances. We also helped more than 10,000 entrepreneurs access resources to improve their finances.

We provided grants to nonprofit groups that helped over 2,400 diverse entrepreneurs launch, sustain, or grow small businesses by providing free business training and affordable capital. The entrepreneurs, in turn, are contributing to the health of their communities by creating high-quality jobs and providing essential goods and services.

The people of Kaiser Permanente — our physicians and employees — are dedicated and compassionate. They’re driven to achieve our mission on behalf of our members and communities.

Equity and inclusion

Our people have diverse backgrounds and different ways of thinking — and they’re all focused on doing their best for the people we serve.

We strive to build a highly inclusive, collaborative workplace — a place where all our physicians and employees feel valued and have equal opportunity to share their perspectives and strengths to support our mission. A workplace like this enables us to provide high-quality care and service. And, our data shows that highly inclusive teams have better patient satisfaction scores, attendance, and workplace safety scores.

Our Belong@KP training program gives employees tools to recognize bias in their actions. It helps our employees think and act more inclusively. And, it helps ensure we take an unbiased approach to recruiting, hiring, developing, and retaining our people.

Over 150,000 employees, physicians, and labor partners had completed the first half of the Belong@KP training by the end of 2023. Follow-up surveys showed that 9 out of 10 people who took the training changed how they interacted with co-workers or patients. And 2 out of 3 people felt more confident connecting with others.

Our equity principles guide our practices and behaviors. They reflect our mission and help create a culture of belonging, trust, and mutual respect.

Workforce equity is a top priority for us at Kaiser Permanente. We actively measure progress, ensure we comply with regulations, and implement effective practices that close equity gaps.

We welcome people with all levels of abilities. We ensure equitable access and inclusion for employees with disabilities. Our partnership with the National Organization on Disability allows us to use effective practices from across the industry.

In 2023, we were recognized as a Military Friendly Employer and a Military Spouse Friendly Employer. It was the 8th consecutive year we received this recognition from Viqtory, a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business.

Our business resource groups help us foster and support an inclusive work environment and advance equity. Thousands of employees are members of our 10 business resource groups. These richly diverse communities offer mentoring and skill-building opportunities. They also offer ways for co-workers to connect — with one another and as cultural advisors to other people in our organization.

Health and well-being

We continued Rise&Renew in 2023. It’s our organization’s initiative to support the mental health and well-being of our workforce. The program is helping to create new work norms.

We encourage our employees to be physically active. In 2023, 17,400 employees and physicians took part in one of our physical activity campaigns, such as Walktober in the fall. Walktober promotes walking and outdoor activities. Employees who participated increased their fitness, supported their mental health, and built connections with co-workers.

We continue working to end stigma around mental health conditions in the workplace. We created an online training program to educate employees about mental health conditions. More than 75,000 employees had taken it by the end of 2023. The training offers employees ways to:

• Care for their mental health
• Reduce stigma in the workplace
• Create a supportive work environment

Labor relations

We’re proud to employ a workforce that is nearly 75% union represented. Our historic relationship with organized labor predates our founding and has helped strengthen and grow Kaiser Permanente over the past 8 decades.

Our Labor Management Partnership brings together employees, managers, and physicians from across our organization to solve problems, spread innovation, and improve care and service.

In 2023, this partnership continued to be the largest and longest lasting of its kind in the United States.

About Kaiser Permanente

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Printable Annual Report    Kaiser Permanente Community Health Snapshot