Kaiser outperforms the NHS

Kaiser Permanente, a Californian non-profit health maintenance organisation, has costs similar to those of the NHS but performs considerably better. This finding emerges from a detailed study of the costs and performance of the two systems (p 135). Feachem and colleagues adjusted costs to allow for differences in the population served and other factors, and compared performance by using multiple criteria. Kaiser members have faster access to consultant and hospital services, possibly because Kaiser saves resources by having only a third of the NHS's hospital utilisation rate (bed days per 1000 per year). The authors attribute Kaiser's better performance to better integration of all the elements of the system, management of hospital utilisation, competition, and greater investment in information technology.

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Getting more for their dollar: a comparison of the NHS with California's Kaiser Permanente • Commentary: Funding is not the only factor • Commentary: Same price, better care • Commentary: Competition made them do it

Richard G A Feachem, Neelam K Sekhri, Karen L White, Jennifer Dixon, Donald M Berwick, and Alain C Enthoven
BMJ 2002 324: 135-143. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]