Presented by: Sandy Bannister, MSHSA, Director Medical Group

Fontana & Ontario Service Area
Southern California Permanente Medical Group
Leading Innovation: Launching TeleHealth Services
Presented by: Sandy Bannister, MSHSA, Director Medical Group Administration
Lisa Malone-Buffong, MPH, Assistant Medical Group Administrator
Nolan Chang, MD, Physician in Charge, Rancho Cucamonga Medical Office
Program Objective
Implementation Methods
Planning/Research Methods
The objective of Leading Innovation:
Launching TeleHealth Services program for
Kaiser Permanente, San Bernardino County was
and continues to be multi-faceted. We initially
wanted to provide more convenient access opportunities for specialty services, such as
Dermatology and Psychiatry, to our fastest growing sub-market and geographically furthest
members located in Victorville, CA. Our medical office building (MOB) for this area is
approximately a 45 minute drive to our main medical center campus located in Fontana,
CA which houses most of our specialty services. Implementation of Live TeleHealth visits
would enable us to better meet Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) requirements
for access to certain services, reduce our rate of patients who “Did Not Keep” (DNK) their
appointment and enhance member satisfaction. As technology emerged our program efforts
expanded to include a robust “Telephone Appointment Visit” (TAV) effort, as well as use of
Text Messaging to book patients directly into specialty appointments.
Our data management teams first identified areas of opportunities and documented
baseline metrics utilizing tools within our electronic medical records system, KP
HealthConnect®. We systematically evaluated the use of various technologies and
implemented both high end and low end solutions for all efforts supported.
DNK Rate - Dermatology
DNK Rate - Psychiatry
13%
Completed
4%
Completed
No Show
87%
No Show
96%
Given the operational impact of the program
implementation, we developed a robust planning
and key stakeholder group to ensure all facets
of implementation were covered prior to go-live.
Once operational details and service level agreements were in place, we scheduled dry-run
and go-live dates. Patient satisfaction surveys were administered post-visit and standard
operational data was tracked. The following departments were involved in the implementation
and were recipients of a medical center wide Team Excellence Award:
AdministrationFacilities
AllergyPatient Business/Support Services
Call CenterPsychiatry
Clinical Audit OperationsRevenue Integrity
Compliance Systems (IT & KP HealthConnect®)
Department Operations Victorville Medical Office Building
Dermatology Workflow Consultants
Each initiative has been successful and TeleHealth expansion efforts are in place for 2014 to include
additional ambulatory consults, as well as inpatient consults with Pediatric specialty services.
Telephone Appointment Visits
TeleHealth Live Visits
2500
Text Messaging for Direct Booking
12%
10%
2000
11%
8%
1500
6%
1000
4%
500
4%
0%
Ja
n-1
4
3
c-1
De
3
No
v-1
Oc
t-1
3
3
p-1
Se
3
g-1
Au
l-1
3
Ju
n-1
3
Ju
-13
Ma
y
3
r-1
Ap
3
r-1
Ma
b-1
Fe
Ja
n-1
3
0
3
2%
Before
After
* Family Practice, Internal Medicine, OBGYN, Pediatrics, Urgent Care, Population Care Management
TAVs increased 120% over the past 12 months,
thereby creating capacity for necessary in-person
physician visits in medical office building.
TeleHealth Live Visits reduced “Did Not Keep” (DNK) rate by 5%
for Psychiatry follow up visits and 4% for Dermatology visits.
Member satisfaction increased to a 99% rate.
* Data presented was collected during various increments of time for each effort.
Our cause is health.
Our passion is service.
We’re here to make lives better.
The Text Message Pilot reduced “Did Not Keep” (DNK)
rate by 7% for Allergy visits and created significant
capacity for additional visits into the department.