Nurses Key to Kaiser Permanente's Success, Research Shows

Kaiser Permanente's highly successful integrated healthcare delivery model has been a tough act for other healthcare systems to follow. Now, new research from the University of Pennsylvania suggests that Kaiser's focus on nurses as an important part of care delivery might be the key.

In their study published online in Health Care Management Review, the authors evaluated data from 2006 to 2007 for 564 acute-care hospitals in 4 states to examine whether patient (mortality and failure-to-rescue) and nurse (burnout, job satisfaction, and intent-to-leave) outcomes in Kaiser hospitals were better than in non-Kaiser hospitals, and whether the differences in nursing could help explain patient clinical outcomes. They also compared Kaiser outcomes with Magnet hospitals known to have better nursing work environments.

The authors conclude that differences in nursing explained a significant proportion of the Kaiser outcomes advantage.

Read the associated press release at newswise