Kaiser Permanente's historic mission and model of care—our unique system of high-quality, affordable care—has served our members and communities well for more than 60 years. But our mission is threatened by current economic realities, competitive pressures and health care public policy. That's why we need to, and are, changing.

The case for change

• We have a historic mission as our country's first and largest non-profit integrated health care delivery system founded by working people for working people.
• We face unprecedented market threats, economic changes and public policy issues. Our mission is at risk.
• We're changing to meet these challenges—and that means every worker, manager and physician will think and work differently in their day-to-day jobs.

All of us, regardless of our role in the organization, are looking at how we need to work differently to provide the best quality, the best service, the most affordable care and  become the best place to work—for ourselves, our members and the communities we serve.

This means every day that we have two jobs: to do our work well and to figure out how to do the work better.

• When we do our work well, we bring our professional knowledge, skills and values to deliver high-quality patient care.
• When we do our work better, we bring our professional knowledge, skills and values to deliver high-quality patient care and to improve processes and systems in health care.
• Combining these two aspects brings increased value for our members and patients, our communities, and our organization.

For an easy-to-print version of the information on this page, print the Why Do We Need to Change? tool.