Cultural Competence of Kaiser Permanente - Essay Example

? Agency Report of the of the of the Cultural Competence Tool Cultural competence is a setof value, behaviour, attitude, and policies that come together in an agency or system or among professionals to work effectively in cross cultural situations (Taylor, et al, 1998).Cultural competence is based on adapting to diversity in order to deliver set beliefs, ideas, and values in a compassionate manner (Macaulay, et al, 1999). The paper aims to discover the cultural competence of Kaiser Permanente, an integrated managed health care consortium located in California, United States. The organization has more than 8 million health members, more than 160,000 employees, and around 600 medical offices in and around the United States (National Vital Statistics Report, 2002). This clearly states that the need of cultural competence within the organization as it works in cross cultural situations where values, ideas, and beliefs need to be implemented to create value for the masses. Mission Statement of the Organization The mission statement of Kaiser Permanente is to offer high quality health care services along with improving the health and well being of members in diverse communities across the country in an effective and dedicated way (Kaiser Permanente, 2013) Vision Statement of the Organization The vision statement of Kaiser Permanente is to be the model of healthcare in the nation by being the best place to work and best place to receive medical and health care in the United States by being an exemplary figure (Kaiser Permanente, 2013) Health and Setting Standards Kaiser Permanente workforce comprises of employees from different cultures and ethnicities making it one of the diverse organsiations. Moreover, with uniform quality of care, the organization has integrated cultural competence into the care delivery system by developing cross cultural training content and publications that have helped in delivering high quality of health and care services (Kaiser Permanente, 2013) Values of the Organization The key values of Kaiser Permanente are to closely adhering to clinical evidences while serving and treating patients. The organization believes in making right things happen along with taking right steps in a logical and systematic manner. Though, the core values of the organization revolves around creating an environment where healthcare can be initiated in a compassionate manner; the major focus is on using scientific tools that will help in empowering patients along with creating mutual values for the organization and stakeholders (Kaiser Permanente, 2013) Philosophy of the Organization The organizational approach is built on the philosophy that a strong primary care offers the most effective and efficient ways of interacting with patients along with recognizing that some patients need extra care and support to achieve the best possible outcomes. The philosophy is further backed by the strong level of commitment that in turn helps in enhancing the healthcare needs of patients in an effective way (Kaiser Permanente, 2013) Goals of the Organization The major goals of the organization includes offering effective and high quality of healthcare treatment and services along with following up with patients until the medical goals and objectives are achieved by the patients. The organizational goals are driven by well illustrated mission and vision statement supporting the philosophy of the organization. This has further helped in building the foundation for a strong cultural competence in the competitive business and social environment (Kaiser Permanente, 2013) Advocacy of the Organization With cultural disparity; the organization has been very keen on developing effective man-management tools supported well by training and development tools to maintain the desired level of standard pertaining to effective healthcare and services. Training and development is an important tool behind the accomplishment of the stated mission, vision, goals of the organization Training Session for the Employees The organization trains employees well in order to take care of patients along with making them feel comfortable. For this purpose, the organization uses a concept called AIDET that plays an important role in managing and treating patients well (Derman, et al, 2008). The AIDET includes acknowledgment, introduction of the role, duration, explanation, and thank you. The employees are asked to greet patients in order to make them feel respected and valuable. At the same time, employees are asked and trained to explain their role and position to patients. Example: “My name is XYZ; I’m a consultant from National Service Quality. I work with all 19 Kaiser home health agencies; prior to joining the team here I worked on KP’s Equitable Care Health Outcomes project, looking at disparities in KP within our HEDIS outcomes. Before KP I worked at Stanford Hospital and also worked as a health educator for the American Cancer Society. I’ve been working in home health for about 9 months now and have had the amazing opportunity to shadow staff across 3 regions, at 9 of our Home Health agencies—I’ve shadowed front line staff on over 45 home health visits”. This helps patients in interacting with them in an effective and efficient manner. The duration of time to treat and take care of patients is explained in an illustrative manner that also helps patients to understand the required time duration along with offering them relief. The participation and patience of patients is further acknowledged by expressing gratitude and appreciating their patience and trust in the organization. The organization further trains its employees to be more pro-active in their approach along with guiding them to deal with patients from varied background and ethnicity in a compassionate manner. All these initiatives have been of great value in earning the trust and loyalty of employees and patients (Derman, et al, 2008). Moreover, this also helps in working as per the need and requirements of the organization that matters the most in the professional environment. Qualified Staff Model At Kaiser Permanente, majority of staff are bilingual suggesting that patients from different culture and ethnicity are treated well without any issue. Physicians deliver culturally competent care by discussing the need of patients based on the interaction with the bilingual staff (Chen, et al, 2009). These staffs are further trained to treat patients in a compassionate manner by maintaining a smile on their faces along with maintaining the eye contact. Every staff is trained well so that patients can be treated in a good manner. Moreover, the coordination between staff and physicians further help in delivering the medical goals in an easy and systematic manner. The performance of staff is regularly monitored based on the feedback process that further helps in identifying the contribution of each staff (Chen, et al, 2009). Training and Workshops for Staff The skills and knowledge of staff is regularly improved by offering inter-cultural training to physicians, nurses, healthcare professionals, and other specialists (Chen, et al, 2009). The organization also conducts Annual National Diversity Conference featuring language services, workforce diversity, and cross cultural diversity programs. Staffs are further trained on languages to become bilingual that acts as an added advantage (Eaton, et al, 2003). Expanding Multicultural Resources The organization has developed sources that are very popular with employees and employers (Kochan, et al, 2008). Online resources include preventive tools that often guide staff and members to research different health related topics along with locating appropriate services. Members’ guidebook and newsletters are published in different languages and brochures pertaining to different healthcare needs can be easily downloaded (Chen, et al, 2009). All these initiatives help in empowering staff and other stakeholders. Incentive Programs Employees are awarded and rewarded based on their performance and expected behaviour. Incentive programs are mainly introduced to acknowledge the contribution of employees in making the organization achieve its goals and objectives (Eaton, et al, 2003). Disciplinary Actions Discipline is often on the top of the priority list at the organization. Every staff is supposed to be compassionate in his behaviour and attitude towards patients (Kochan, et al, 2008). They need to respect patients well and their healthcare needs should be the top most priority. Moreover, in case of the breech of the disciplinary code and conduct; staff are warned and further expelled from the services to safeguard the image and reputation of the organization. Overall, it can be said that not only the performance of employees is audited but initiatives are also taken to serve the patients in a manner leading to better health (Eaton, et al, 2003). References Chen. C; Garrido. T; Chock. D et al (2009). The Kaiser Permanente Electronic Health Record: Transforming and Streamlining Modalities of Care,” Health Affairs 28(2):323–33. Eaton. S; Kochan. T A; McKersie. R (2003). The Kaiser Permanente Labor Management Partnership: The First Five Years. Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management J. Derman, T. Garrido, L. Radler et al (2008). Impact of KP.org Personal Health Record with Secure Messaging on Office Visits and Patients’ Calls, presentation at the National Forum on Quality Improvement in Healthcare Kochan. T; Adler. P; McKersie. R et al (2008). The Potential and Precariousness of Partnership: The Case of the Kaiser Permanente Labor Management Partnership, Industrial Relations, 47(1):36–65. Kaiser Permanente (2013) Our Mission and Goals. Kaiser Permanente: Introduction. Retrieved from http://mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.org/ncal/facilities/region/eastbay/area_master/about_us/missionstatement.jsp Macaulay, A.C., el. al. (1999) Responsible Research with Communities: Participatory Research in Primary Care. North America Primary Care Research Group Policy Statement National Vital Statstics Report (2002). Ethnic Health Disparities. California. Volume 50, No, 15 Taylor, T., et al. (1998). Training and Technical Assistance Manual for Culturally Competent Services and Systems: Implications for Children with Special Health Care Needs. National Center for Cultural Competence, Georgetown University Child Development Center. Read More