Kaiser Permanente is a huge organization. Our workers and physicians care for 8.6 million members. Caregivers and support staff are busy, often feeling overwhelmed by the pace and precision with which we do our work. And, we are working to improve the care and service we provide every day, too.

So, when we talk of membership growth, many people wonder: how can we care for more patients, we are already so busy!

But, membership growth is crucial for everyone. The Labor Management Partnership and the National Agreement call for joint strategies to promote the growth of Kaiser Permanente for at least three reasons:

1. We need to grow as the population grows, otherwise we lose market share, and the future of the organization is less secure.
2. We need to live up to our mission and extend the great KP model of prevention and integration to all those who need care. We are showing the rest of the country how health care can be high quality and affordable. If we are not growing, we are not succeeding.
3. Remember, if eligible consumers are not coming to KP they are going elsewhere!

There is another important factor in KP’s growth: we must work hard to keep the members we already have!

Why member retention matters

Did you know that every year there is a significant loss of membership because people choose to leave KP or because their employee health plan changes? This turnover of members creates additional pressure on the organization to grow. We must offset the losses that come every year in order to have net growth.

We know that the most likely members to leave are:

• younger members
• new members who have been with KP for less than 3 years
• low contact members who rarely see a doctor or use KP services

Through our work in the LMP and unit-based teams the frontline can make a huge difference to these vulnerable categories, and to all KP members. Our goal is to build a system that creates a lifetime member experience.

What you can do

There are many ways that frontline workers can actively participate in member retention. They can:

• Act as ambassadors with union members to provide member to member communication.
• Go to union events and offer wellness services or demonstrations of KP.org.
• Become active as qualified bilingual specialists (QBS) who can help with language and cultural competency needs and encourage co-workers to do so, too.
• Provide new members with a wow experience in the critical first years with KP.
• Use the new member identifier and take time to welcome new members and explain how things work.
• If you work in a call center, help answer questions from members who are losing coverage.
• Work to keep KP affordable.

As we head into 2011, KP and the Union Coalition want to raise everyone’s understanding of the importance of retaining members. Everyone can play a part, especially if we integrate these goals as part of the work of unit-based teams and line-of-sight PSP goals.

Everyone establishes relationships with our members over time. This is among the most gratifying parts of being in health care. It is part of our great mission to not only extend the KP model, but to hold onto those who are already here.