Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente
Company typeConsortium of for-profit and not-for-profit entities.
IndustryHealthcare
FoundedJuly 21, 1945; 79 years ago (1945-07-21)
Founders
HeadquartersOrdway Building
Oakland, California, U.S.
Number of locations
40 hospitals and 618 medical facilities (2022)
Area served
Key people
Greg A. Adams (Chairman & CEO)
see section below
ServicesInsurance, Hospital, Healthcare
RevenueIncrease $100.8 billion USD (2023)[1]
Increase $329 million USD (2023)[1]
Members12.5 million (2022)
Number of employees
235,785 employees (including 73,618 nurses and 24,605 physicians as of 2023)[1]
ParentKaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc.
Subsidiaries
  • Geisinger Health System
  • The Permanente Federation, LLC
  • St Dominic's Hospital
  • The Permanente Medical Group, Inc.
  • Avivia Health
  • Buenaventura Medical Group Inc
  • Southern California Permanente Medical Group
  • 1800 Harrison Foundation
  • Kaiser Foundation Hospitals
  • The Southeast Permanente Medical Group, Inc.
  • Kaiser Permanente of Georgia, Inc.
  • Kaiser Permanente Center for Gun Violence Research and Education
Websitekaiserpermanente.org kp.org

Kaiser Permanente (/ˈkaɪzər pɜːrməˈnɛnteɪ/; KP) is an American integrated managed care consortium, based in Oakland, California, United States, founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield. Kaiser Permanente is made up of three distinct but interdependent groups of entities: the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. (KFHP) and its regional operating subsidiaries; Kaiser Foundation Hospitals; and the regional Permanente Medical Groups. As of 2023,[2] Kaiser Permanente operates in eight states (Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia) and the District of Columbia, and is the largest managed care organization in the United States.[3]

Kaiser Permanente operates 40 hospitals[2] and more than 616 medical offices,[2] with over 300,000 personnel, including more than 98,000 physicians and nurses.[2]

Each Permanente Medical Group operates as a separate for-profit partnership or professional corporation in its individual territory, and while none publicly reports its financial results, each is primarily funded by reimbursements from its respective regional Kaiser Foundation Health Plan entity. KFHP is one of the largest not-for-profit organizations in the United States.

KP's quality of care has been highly rated[4] and attributed to an emphasis on preventive care, its doctors being salaried rather than paid on a fee-for-service basis, and an attempt to minimize the time patients spend in high-cost hospitals by carefully planning their stay. However, Kaiser has had disputes with its employees' unions; repeatedly faced civil and criminal charges for falsification of records and patient dumping; faced action by regulators over the quality of care it provided, especially to patients with mental health issues; and faced criticism from activists and action from regulators over the size of its cash reserves.

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference kpataglance was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c d "Fast Facts".
  3. ^ "A Brief Overview of Kaiser Permanente in 2022". J. C. Lewis Insurance Services. March 31, 2022. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  4. ^ "Kaiser Permanente Health Insurance Review 2022". Forbes.com. Retrieved October 10, 2022.