Introduction
In business, organizations operate off a particular purpose that answers questions such as
who they are, what do they value, and where are they going. In this project, the organization that
will be of focus for the author is Kaiser Permanente. Kaiser Permanente is a not-for-profit
healthcare organization that aims to serve more than 12 million members throughout the District
of Columbia and multiple states (i.e., California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maryland, Oregon, Virginia,
and Washington) making it one of the largest not-for-profit health care systems in the United
States. Kaiser Permanente structure includes Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. and its
subsidiaries; the not-for-profit Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, which operates 39 hospitals and
over 720 other clinical facilities; and the Permanente Medical Groups, self-governed physician
group practices that exclusively contract with the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan.
Kaiser Permanente’s Mission
As a healthcare organization, Kaiser Permanente sets a mission of existing to provide
high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of their members and the
communities in which they serve. This mission statement is brought to the members of Kaiser
Permanente through a unique business model that can be perceived as a combination of
processes implemented in an insurance company and that of a network of hospitals and medical
clinics for its members. Kaiser Permanente provides an integrated/coordinated model for health
care coverage and healthcare in of itself. Kaiser Permanente members pay dues to access care
and services that are coordinated across inpatient and outpatient settings, pharmacy, lab, imaging,
and other ancillary services (Kaiser Permanente, 2023). While this is not uncommon of not-for-
profit healthcare organizations, Kaiser Permanente’s model of integrated health care delivery is
highly regarded for high-quality and efficient health care, and efforts to reproduce the success
Integrative Learning Project: Organizational Setting Assignment 2
that Kaiser Permanente has found with the model have mostly failed (McHugh, Aiken,
Eckenhoff, & Burns, 2016). As a positive result of the Kaiser Permanente model, they able to
reinvest a significant amount of their operating revenue to continually enhance and innovate the
quality of care they provide to its members and community.
Customers (Internal and External)
For Kaiser Permanente, external customers are its members located in the
abovementioned states (and District of Columbia area) seeking quality healthcare via one or a
combination of Kaiser Permanente’s entities. The demographic characteristics of Kaiser
Permanente members are similar to the general population within each of the Kaiser Permanente
Regions, and overall, the size and diversity of the Kaiser Permanente membership offers an
effective platform for research (Davis, Voelkel, Remmers, Adams & McGlynn, 2023).
In addition to the Kaiser Permanente members, customers also include the medical
professionals hired by the organization. An important element in Kaiser Permanente’s success is
its investment in professional nursing, as they had the highest level of education in terms of
percentage of BSN nurses (McHugh, Aiken, Eckenhoff, & Burns, 2016). Atop of investing in
nursing, Kaiser offers fellowship and residency programs for professional and personal
development of physicians with a goal of creating a healthcare workforce that mirrors the
communities of its members.
Author’s Role for Kaiser Permanente
While the author is not employed with Kaiser Permanente, but writes from the
perspective of an employee. As an Internal Audit professional, the value added to Kaiser is made
in assisting the organization stay aware of risks and gaps in success that may impact
organizational strategies and goals. As Kaiser Permanente is a not-for-profit organization, there
Integrative Learning Project: Organizational Setting Assignment 3
must be a test of processes implemented and in practice for the company to be complaint with
Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3) which is the primary nonprofit status through which donations
made to the organizations are tax-deductible.
The Role of Christianity in Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is not founded on religion but has incorporated Christianity in many
of its operations based on their mission; this is particular so when the business is healthcare.
With Kaiser Permanente’s mission of providing high quality healthcare to its members and
communities and its employee development investments in nursing and physician training, they
present the actions of Jeremiah 33:6. As stated from the book of Jeremiah, “Behold, I will bring
to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and
security” (ESV). Kaiser uses healthcare to heal, but as a not-for-profit, they’ve reinvested in their
members’ communities. Yes, members pay dues to have access to quality health care, but this
not-for-profit organization operates as it says in Proverbs 27:17, “Iron sharpens iron, and one
man sharpens another” (ESV).
Integrative Learning Project: Organizational Setting Assignment 4
Reference:
Davis, A. C., Voelkel, J. L., Remmers, C. L., Adams, J. L., & McGlynn, E. A. (2023). Comparing
Kaiser Permanente members to the general population: implications for generalizability
of research.IThe Permanente Journal,I27(2), 87.
McHugh, M. D., Aiken, L. H., Eckenhoff, M. E., & Burns, L. R. (2016). Achieving kaiser
Permanente quality.IHealth care management review,I41(3), 178-188.
Our model. Our Model | Kaiser Permanente. (2023, January 2).
https://about.kaiserpermanente.org/commitments-and-impact/public-policy/integrated-care
Who we are. Kaiser Permanente. (2022, October 27). https://about.kaiserpermanente.org/who-
we-are
Integrative Learning Project: Organizational Setting Assignment 5
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