Quality remains the north star for Permanente Medicine

Leaders from The Permanente Medical Group, Southern California Permanente Medical Group, and the Federation refreshed the care principles, which focus on the delivery of medicine that’s physician-led, patient-centered, team-delivered, evidence-based, technology forward, and equity-driven — supported by the pillars of ethical and compassionate care.

Spreading best practices in care and safety

National work to improve medical excellence expanded tools and support for both clinicians and members. For example, the cancer care program created access to virtual second opinions, expanded patient support options by phone and virtually, and created algorithms to identify high-risk cases. In pregnancy care, teams spread perinatal safety practices that prevent maternal deaths, created content for the Care Companion application to guide members through their pregnancy journeys, and integrated doulas into care delivery.

Pediatric work included a new training program to help clinicians and care teams communicate with parents about childhood vaccines. The precision medicine program continued to spread technology tools that enable clinicians to identify hereditary risks and to personalize treatment based on genetics.

To advance safety and make Kaiser Permanente the safest place to deliver and receive care, the Federation co-led regional learning collaboratives to prevent sentinel events, supported safety rounding, and enhanced how it uses data to monitor and reduce safety risks while advancing the organization’s Safety Management System. The team created and maintained a real-time capacity to respond to emerging and urgent issues ranging from national situation management team alerts to shifts in federal policy.

With increasing interest in GLP-1 medications, the Federation worked with clinical partners on a strategy to incorporate these new medications into a comprehensive, sustainable weight-management plan for patients.

Advancing care for Medicare patients

The Federation also successfully expanded the Complex Care Model program to all markets, proactively identifying high-risk Medicare members and delivering early interventions to prevent recurrent crises and reduce avoidable hospitalizations and Emergency Department visits, with most markets exceeding enrollment targets.

A falls prevention program, utilizing an app called “Bold,” was implemented across all markets, providing Medicare members with a digital exercise platform for falls prevention, bladder health, functional fitness, and musculoskeletal pain, with program enrollment (50,000+) and engagement rates (60%) exceeding expectations.

Kaiser Permanente achieved strong Medicare Star ratings across all markets, with all plans earning 4 stars or higher for 2026 (5 stars is the highest rating), and 7 markets earning the distinguished 4.5-star rating, reflecting Kaiser Permanente’s commitment to high-quality care for Medicare members.

Advancing quality through research

Quality improves through the regular flow of research and studies that identify care issues and promote new learnings. The Federation’s Garfield Memorial Research Fund initiated 4 projects for a total of $1.5 million to address important unanswered research questions. The Permanente Journal continued to serve audiences both within and outside of Kaiser Permanente as a diamond open-access publication.

In 2025, The Permanente Journal launched a peer-review mentorship program with a suite of tools to facilitate the learning and practice of peer review. It also updated the content collection on value-based care and deployed 3 calls for papers on the topics of access, value-based care, and physician workforce.

Supporting care programs with data

The Federation’s Analytics and Reporting team delivered enterprise‑wide analytic leadership that strengthened the Permanente Medical Groups’ ability to provide patient‑centered, high‑quality care while modernizing the data infrastructure that supports it.

The team’s work advanced major clinical programs — from Advanced Care at Home (ACAH) to Dignified Journeys — by enhancing dashboards, improving KPI methodologies, and developing predictive models that enabled early identification of high‑risk patients and more proactive care interventions. These efforts supported reductions in avoidable utilization, strengthened palliative and oncology pathways, and ensured equitable, high‑quality care across priority populations, including those receiving gender‑affirming services and maternal health care.

Kaiser Permanente’s ACAH services expanded in 2025 with a launch in Colorado. ACAH will be active in all Kaiser Permanente markets once it launches in Hawaii in the first quarter of 2026. The Federation supported the strengthening of the program infrastructure by integrating clinical and administrative oversight, implementing new technology systems to enhance care coordination, and building operational capacity to support expanded in-home care delivery for homebound members.