The James A. Vohs Award for Quality

Community Clinics Health Network Proud to Be Recognized By Kaiser Permanente for Improved Care to Diabetic Patients.

Community Clinics Health Network (CCHN) was recently recognized by Kaiser Permanente for its efforts to improve care to underserved populations which experience disproportionate burdens of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The James A. Vohs Award for Quality honors programs that advance quality of care and demonstrate transferable, innovative techniques and knowledge.

Kaiser Permanente presented the Community Clinics Health Network and other community partners with the 2010 Vohs Award for Quality at its annual awards dinner this past spring for the community translation and implementation of Kaiser Permanente's ALL (Aspirin, Lisinopril, and Lipid-lowering medication) Program, an evidence-based intervention to reduce cardiovascular disease risk amongst patients with diabetes mellitus which emphasizes the use of a bundle of heart health medications.

History of Kaiser Permanente's ALL Program

In the early part of this decade, Kaiser Permanente's physicians and clinical care leaders leveraged the resources of the KP Care Management Institute and harnessed the predictive power attributes of the Archimedes modeling program to launch the ALL Program.  Their goal was to dramatically decrease cardiovascular morbidity and mortality among Kaiser Permanente patients with diabetes mellitus and coronary artery disease.

Based upon Kaiser's experience managing tens of thousands of diabetic patients, implementation of the ALL Program has shown that when patients took the bundle of heart health medications -the chances of these patients developing a heart attack or stroke was reduced by more than 60 percent.  Furthermore, an evaluation study conducted by the Care Management Institute found that two-year adherent use of lisinopril and lipid-lowering medications by high risk KP patients prevented 1,271 expected heart attacks and strokes per year.

In 2005, Kaiser Permanente began working with its community partners in southern California to translate and implement the ALL Program.  Currently, there are more than 20 ambulatory clinic sites throughout southern California implementing the ALL program, and over 4000 community diabetic patients who have been benefiting from the medication protocol.

The ALL Program is a powerful and effective protocol, and a stellar example of what it means to be dedicated to evidence-based medicine," said Dr. Ben Chu, Kaiser Permanente Southern California Regional Health Plan President.  "It was a natural extension of our mission to take this expertise beyond our doors into our diverse Southern California communities."

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