Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente is a non-profit group practice health plan headquartered in Oakland California. It is the largest nonprofit health plan in the United States providing for the health care needs of 8.6 million members in the District of Columbia and nine states in the country.

The mission of Kaiser Permanente is to improve the health of its members by providing them with an affordable, high quality, integrated health care program. Through an integrated system of delivering health care, it provides for all of the health care needs of the members, such as:

• Preventative care


• Prenatal and postnatal care


• Immunizations


• Emergency care


• Diagnostic screening


• Hospital and medical services


• Pharmacy services

Therefore, all member needs can be met through this plan.

Kaiser Permanente prides itself on catering to the needs of the members first rather than those of the shareholders. This plan is well known for its strong, social purpose and the lasting sense of cooperation that exists between the Health Plan and its medical groups. The physicians in the hospitals take responsibility for providing the clinical care the members need.

There are several organizations that exist cooperatively within the eight regions of Kaiser Permanente. These are:

Kaiser Foundation Health Plans
Individuals and groups arrange to have comprehensive health coverage for medical and hospital services with nonprofit corporations that exist for the benefit of the public. These health plans contract Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and the Permanente Medical groups to provide these medical services.

Kaiser Foundation Hospitals
Kaiser owns and operates hospitals in three states - Oregon, Hawaii and California. It also has outpatient facilities in several other states. If it does not have its own services in a state that it services with the health plan, it does arrange hospital services for its members in these locations.

Permanente Medical Groups
These are professional organizations of physicians that do operate for profit. There is usually one or more of these groups in each of the Kaiser Permanente region. The physicians in each group take on the responsibility of providing and arranging for the medical care of the members in that region.

In addition to providing for the medical services and health care of its members, Kaiser Permanente performs many community activities. These include providing assistance to those people who may be uninsured and in need of medical attention. It is also involved in training new health professionals and in bringing new methods of delivery health care to the profession. It is always trying to develop and share new and better ways of caring for the patients