Kaiser Permanente

Kaiser Permanente is the largest integrated managed care organization in the United States. It is a consortium of three groups of entities in the American healthcare industry: the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, and the Permanente Medical Groups. The Oakland-based organization was established by Henry J. Kaiser, an industrialist, and Sidney R. Garfield, a physician, in 1945.

Kaiser Permanente has grown into a company operating in eight regions in the U.S. providing services to 8.6 million health plan members. Its operations are currently carried out by 167,300 employees and 14,600 physicians in 35 medical centers and 431 medical services across the country.

The three groups that form the Kaiser Permanente system have distinct but interdependent legal entities. The Kaiser Foundation Health Plan provides prepaid health plans and insurance services to employers, employees and individual members. It operates under state and federal non-profit status and provides a tax-exempt shelter for the for-profit medical entities. Additionally, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals operate not-for-profit medical centers in California, Oregon, and Hawaii. Both are headed by their chairman and chief executive officer, George Halvorson. On the other hand, Permanente Medical Groups are physician-owned organizations that provide medical care services for Kaiser Foundation Health Plan members. It is headed by its executive director, John H. Cochran, MD.