Join Aaron Dante of No Pix After Dark live from MACO 2024 as he dives into an insightful conversation with Gracelyn McDermott VP Marketing,Sales & Business Development at Kaiser Permanente In this episode, we explore the groundbreaking initiatives and successes of Kaiser Permanente, known for its top-quality, integrated healthcare services.
Discover the advantages of Kaiser Permanente’s five-star rated care, their innovative health app, and how they are leveraging technology to improve patient outcomes. Learn about the unique integrated care model that allows members to live longer and healthier lives, and get a sneak peek into the future developments planned for the upcoming year.
Don’t miss this engaging discussion on how Kaiser Permanente is transforming healthcare delivery and making a difference in the lives of its members. Tune in for part one of this enlightening series!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Music.
(00:34):
Folks we are here live at mako
2024 and i told you i
had nothing but the heavy hitters no picture of
dark we make sure we have the heavy hitters because people are doing great things
out here and i really i'm going to talk about this company that's amazing doing
great things kaiser permanente okay so we got as a guest because i know who's
(00:55):
going to represent and show out and tell us all about kaiser permanente is grayson
mcdermott the vp of marketing sales sales,
and business development, Changemaker.
Yes. How are you doing today? I'm doing well, and I'm so happy to be here with
you today, Aaron. Me too. It's been a year in the making. I know.
Literally a year. Remember last year you told me to stop by the booth,
and I wasn't able to do that?
But I'm here today. I told you. You're the hardest working person I've known
(01:18):
in a while in Maryland, okay?
You are hard working. You are the, what is it, the hardest working podcaster
in Maryland. That's what they say.
That's what they say. I'm going to go on a hiatus for a little bit.
Well, I'm so happy to have you here because, you know, you guys are doing great
things out here. Yes, we are.
And we really want to focus on Kaiser, talk about what they have going on,
initiatives of this year going up, things that are successes from last year,
(01:38):
things that we can really highlight.
Okay. So tell us, how long have you been with Kaiser real quick and just a little
quick background and, you know, the love you have for the company?
But we only have 15 minutes, right?
Facts. Facts. Well, okay. I
can only give you a taste of what Kaiser Permanente can do in 15 minutes.
I can't give you the whole kit and camoodle. Well, this is part one. Okay. It's part one.
(01:59):
All right. I'm good with that. Yeah. But back to your question,
I've been with Kaiser Permanente for about eight years.
I am in as vice president, marketing, sales, and business development.
I like to say I'm responsible for all things retention and growth when that comes to membership.
So that's our commercial membership. So our large and small employer groups,
as well as our government programs, Medicare and Medicaid.
(02:21):
And I'm also tend to be the person that many of the employer groups call when
they have an issue, a concern, and I'm always there to help and do that.
I came to Kaiser Permanente knowing that it was a top quality organization.
Previously, before coming to Kaiser Permanente, I worked for a healthcare accreditation company.
(02:41):
And lots of people haven't heard of URAC, but they heard of NCQA.
And NCQA is one of the accreditors that note,
when, which health insurers have the highest quality.
And I'm here to tell you that Kaiser Permanente has five out of five stars as rated by NCQA.
Say that one more time. Say that one more time with the people in back.
(03:02):
Kaiser Permanente has five out of five stars by NCQA.
And what that means is we deliver high quality care.
That's prevention, holistic, whole body care.
And we do that through our integrated health model. I like to say,
simplify it and say, it's just really connected care.
Okay. Five out of five is great. Five out of five is awesome.
(03:25):
Because most people don't get five. They get four out of five.
They get four, 4.5. And I know there's been a really big shift and focus for
Central Maryland, the Baltimore region.
Why is that? Why is that so important for you guys? Well, what do you mean by
shift? Because we've always been dedicated to the state of Maryland in particular.
But what we're trying to do, and I think this is what you're saying,
(03:46):
is we want to get access to as many Marylanders as possible.
Because, and I think we talked about this before, we did a survey about a couple
of years ago and we compared Kaiser Permanente members against members on other insurance plans.
And the result, and this is public data.
(04:06):
We didn't just use our data. We used public data. And the results show that
as a Kaiser Permanente member, you live on average six years longer.
And get this. I'm sold. If you're African-American, is eight to nine years longer.
Why is that, you think? Why is that for us? Why do you think that?
Goes back to our intercreated care model.
Okay. Is we are not just an insurance company. We provide care and coverage under one roof.
(04:31):
Okay. So we have not only our health plan insurance, but we have our physicians
that are not incentivized based on how often I come to see you. Okay.
They're incentivized by the results and the outcome. So going back to the five
out of five, eight stars. Correct.
That's results. That's proven technology.
And let's see if this works. Because one of the things I thought is,
(04:52):
you know, I can't tell you how many times I've said to people Kaiser Permanente
believes in integrated care.
Okay. And everybody thinks they know what that means.
But until they become part of Kaiser Permanente, they really don't know.
And I thought, well, let me just show Aaron our app. So what this is,
(05:13):
is this is Kaiser Permanente in the palm of my hand. This is the kp.org app.
See, it says, Hi, Gracelyn. This is my profile, my medical record that I have
access to by just signing in.
And I can go on here. Let's say I have a headache and heart palpitations or what have you.
(05:34):
I can go on here and get care and figure out the top of it right now because
we just came out of COVID and COVID is still an endemic at the point.
So the first thing you see is COVID vaccination. Right.
I just click on that button and find out where there's COVID vaccinations clinician's schedule.
The second thing is I schedule an appointment. So I want to go see my primary
(05:55):
care doctor. I can schedule an appointment right there and then.
The third thing, I'm sick. I want care now.
I can click that button. And let me show you this. Let's see if it works out.
Usually tells you in the other screen what my, when I hit the get care now and I hit a,
(06:17):
get care now with the clinicians, it's going to tell me exactly what my wait
time is. What does that say? Zero minutes.
You saw me do it right there, right? Hey, folks, folks, folks,
I can't make this up right now. You saw me do it. I'm blowing away. Right there.
Because you know how long it takes to get in a doctor's office.
It takes a long time to get it.
(06:37):
And a lot of people, so going back to the commitment to Maryland,
is we recognize, especially coming out of COVID, that there's an expense associated
with building business.
If I had my way, I would have a Kaiser Permanente building 10 minutes away from
wherever anybody worked or lives.
But I don't have that kind of investment capital spent.
(06:58):
So here we can get you connected right away through the palm of your phone.
And that's the kind of stuff that we're investing in right now.
I love that. That right there is a game changer for me.
Because I know in my family, we're like, that was planned not for another two weeks.
That, to me, to get coverage that quickly, zero minutes. Right.
Zero minutes, folks. And you've got a son, right? Yes, I do.
(07:20):
You've got a son. I've got two.
And, oh, you've got two. I've got two, yes. So you're here with me and Mako.
Right. Who's taking care of the kids?
My partner. She's there. Right. Yeah. And she's probably a busy woman, right?
Yes. So what happens if one of your son suddenly has something red in their eye?
Because you're here. She can't call you. She's going to call a doctor.
She's going to call a doctor. Well, let me tell you what she can do as she were
(07:43):
kind of as a Permanente member.
Okay. What she can do is do what I just told you, the get care now.
She would get connected with the nurse.
She might have your son sitting right there. They can see, oh my gosh,
his eyes a little red and be able to diagnose and say, he's got pink eye.
Wow. That nurse is going to reach out directly to the pharmacist.
(08:05):
And order the antibiotic, she can go to the pharmacy and she can pick up the
antibiotic or they can have it delivered right to the home.
And she doesn't have to leave because you're here.
She can stay focused on whatever she has to do and get immediate care for her son.
That's what integrated care is. Sign me up.
We can drop the mic on that. I really appreciate you explaining that to us because
(08:29):
I really want the audience to learn a little bit more about what you guys have going on.
Because I've had a lot of friends who have Kaiser Permanente.
A lot of people who are like, tell us a little bit more about that.
I'm so very excited to talk and have further discussion about Kaiser and what you guys are doing.
What's on initiative for next year? Anything going on? Oh my gosh.
So lots of things going on for next year.
The key thing that we're working on is what I just showed you,
(08:51):
is improving and working on the app.
We are launching a new version of our electronic health record system getting into MyChart.
That's going to make it even easier for you to be able to access your records
and communicate with your doctor and, more importantly, help our physicians as they deliver care.
We've also, Jess, and I think there was an article that came out probably a
(09:15):
couple of days ago about the success that we've had with a company,
an artificial intelligence kind of situation company called Abrich.
And we were the first of our entire Kaiser Permanente population,
because we exist across the country in about eight regions.
And what this does is it allows more one-on-one interaction from the physician to the patient.
(09:39):
So oftentimes, you know, when you go into the doctor, the doctor has a laptop
in front and they're typing up all these things and they'll type and type and type.
And then they'll look at you, ask you a question, turn around, type and type and type.
Well, with this technology, the doctor will say to you, Aaron,
do you mind if I use a digital transcriber while you and I have a conversation?
(10:01):
And you would say, of course, yes. Yes. And then the whole entire time I am engaging you with care,
talking to you, asking you questions, and being able to listen,
because that's the key in delivering care, is listening to the patient.
That's the number one thing that patients say when they complain about their
doctor. My doctor doesn't listen to me. Doesn't listen to me at all, right. So listen to you.
(10:26):
And then at the end of the day, they're going to have the transcription right there.
And then they can go, they can tweak it and hand you it. The,
the, what do they call it?
The, the, whatever the notes is when you walk away, I'm drawing a blank right
now, giving it to your hand and walking away. Wow.
I can't wait to learn more about what you guys have going on.
This has been a very, that's what excites me about.
(10:50):
Our organization is, we don't run from technology.
I showed you the technology in the hand. I talked about A-Bridge.
Everybody, when you talk about artificial visual intelligence,
they say, oh my God. They get nervous. They get nervous.
Yeah, you get nervous. What's that going to mean from a privacy standpoint? Very, very important.
But what we look at it from the approach of how can we use these new technologies,
(11:13):
whether it's generative AI or any other kind of AI, to enable and make our physicians'
jobs easier and really help us
deliver better, more innovative care to our members and to our patients.
Folks, you heard it here first. This is the first episode of six.
I can't wait for you guys to hear about all this and more.
(11:34):
Thank you so much for your time. Thank you for being a partner with Nope Except for Dark Podcast.
I appreciate it. Because I think health is so important.
And that's something that I really, we've talked behind the scenes about how
cancer and things of that nature, just friends and families,
but health is so important.
And that right there, had a palm in your hand, it's a game changer.
Yes. Folks, thank you so much. Thank you, Ms. Grayson, for being here.
(11:55):
Thank you. Love, peace, we're out.
Music.
(00:34):
Folks we are here live at mako
2024 and i told you i
had nothing but the heavy hitters no picture of
dark we make sure we have the heavy hitters because people are doing great things
out here and i really i'm going to talk about this company that's amazing doing
great things kaiser permanente okay so we got as a guest because i know who's
(00:55):
going to represent and show out and tell us all about kaiser permanente is grayson
mcdermott the vp of marketing sales sales,
and business development, Changemaker.
Yes. How are you doing today? I'm doing well, and I'm so happy to be here with
you today, Aaron. Me too. It's been a year in the making. I know.
Literally a year. Remember last year you told me to stop by the booth,
and I wasn't able to do that?
But I'm here today. I told you. You're the hardest working person I've known
(01:18):
in a while in Maryland, okay?
You are hard working. You are the, what is it, the hardest working podcaster
in Maryland. That's what they say.
That's what they say. I'm going to go on a hiatus for a little bit.
Well, I'm so happy to have you here because, you know, you guys are doing great
things out here. Yes, we are.
And we really want to focus on Kaiser, talk about what they have going on,
initiatives of this year going up, things that are successes from last year,
(01:38):
things that we can really highlight.
Okay. So tell us, how long have you been with Kaiser real quick and just a little
quick background and, you know, the love you have for the company?
But we only have 15 minutes, right?
Facts. Facts. Well, okay. I
can only give you a taste of what Kaiser Permanente can do in 15 minutes.
I can't give you the whole kit and camoodle. Well, this is part one. Okay. It's part one.
(01:59):
All right. I'm good with that. Yeah. But back to your question,
I've been with Kaiser Permanente for about eight years.
I am in as vice president, marketing, sales, and business development.
I like to say I'm responsible for all things retention and growth when that comes to membership.
So that's our commercial membership. So our large and small employer groups,
as well as our government programs, Medicare and Medicaid.
(02:21):
And I'm also tend to be the person that many of the employer groups call when
they have an issue, a concern, and I'm always there to help and do that.
I came to Kaiser Permanente knowing that it was a top quality organization.
Previously, before coming to Kaiser Permanente, I worked for a healthcare accreditation company.
(02:41):
And lots of people haven't heard of URAC, but they heard of NCQA.
And NCQA is one of the accreditors that note,
when, which health insurers have the highest quality.
And I'm here to tell you that Kaiser Permanente has five out of five stars as rated by NCQA.
Say that one more time. Say that one more time with the people in back.
(03:02):
Kaiser Permanente has five out of five stars by NCQA.
And what that means is we deliver high quality care.
That's prevention, holistic, whole body care.
And we do that through our integrated health model. I like to say,
simplify it and say, it's just really connected care.
Okay. Five out of five is great. Five out of five is awesome.
(03:25):
Because most people don't get five. They get four out of five.
They get four, 4.5. And I know there's been a really big shift and focus for
Central Maryland, the Baltimore region.
Why is that? Why is that so important for you guys? Well, what do you mean by
shift? Because we've always been dedicated to the state of Maryland in particular.
But what we're trying to do, and I think this is what you're saying,
(03:46):
is we want to get access to as many Marylanders as possible.
Because, and I think we talked about this before, we did a survey about a couple
of years ago and we compared Kaiser Permanente members against members on other insurance plans.
And the result, and this is public data.
(04:06):
We didn't just use our data. We used public data. And the results show that
as a Kaiser Permanente member, you live on average six years longer.
And get this. I'm sold. If you're African-American, is eight to nine years longer.
Why is that, you think? Why is that for us? Why do you think that?
Goes back to our intercreated care model.
Okay. Is we are not just an insurance company. We provide care and coverage under one roof.
(04:31):
Okay. So we have not only our health plan insurance, but we have our physicians
that are not incentivized based on how often I come to see you. Okay.
They're incentivized by the results and the outcome. So going back to the five
out of five, eight stars. Correct.
That's results. That's proven technology.
And let's see if this works. Because one of the things I thought is,
(04:52):
you know, I can't tell you how many times I've said to people Kaiser Permanente
believes in integrated care.
Okay. And everybody thinks they know what that means.
But until they become part of Kaiser Permanente, they really don't know.
And I thought, well, let me just show Aaron our app. So what this is,
(05:13):
is this is Kaiser Permanente in the palm of my hand. This is the kp.org app.
See, it says, Hi, Gracelyn. This is my profile, my medical record that I have
access to by just signing in.
And I can go on here. Let's say I have a headache and heart palpitations or what have you.
(05:34):
I can go on here and get care and figure out the top of it right now because
we just came out of COVID and COVID is still an endemic at the point.
So the first thing you see is COVID vaccination. Right.
I just click on that button and find out where there's COVID vaccinations clinician's schedule.
The second thing is I schedule an appointment. So I want to go see my primary
(05:55):
care doctor. I can schedule an appointment right there and then.
The third thing, I'm sick. I want care now.
I can click that button. And let me show you this. Let's see if it works out.
Usually tells you in the other screen what my, when I hit the get care now and I hit a,
(06:17):
get care now with the clinicians, it's going to tell me exactly what my wait
time is. What does that say? Zero minutes.
You saw me do it right there, right? Hey, folks, folks, folks,
I can't make this up right now. You saw me do it. I'm blowing away. Right there.
Because you know how long it takes to get in a doctor's office.
It takes a long time to get it.
(06:37):
And a lot of people, so going back to the commitment to Maryland,
is we recognize, especially coming out of COVID, that there's an expense associated
with building business.
If I had my way, I would have a Kaiser Permanente building 10 minutes away from
wherever anybody worked or lives.
But I don't have that kind of investment capital spent.
(06:58):
So here we can get you connected right away through the palm of your phone.
And that's the kind of stuff that we're investing in right now.
I love that. That right there is a game changer for me.
Because I know in my family, we're like, that was planned not for another two weeks.
That, to me, to get coverage that quickly, zero minutes. Right.
Zero minutes, folks. And you've got a son, right? Yes, I do.
(07:20):
You've got a son. I've got two.
And, oh, you've got two. I've got two, yes. So you're here with me and Mako.
Right. Who's taking care of the kids?
My partner. She's there. Right. Yeah. And she's probably a busy woman, right?
Yes. So what happens if one of your son suddenly has something red in their eye?
Because you're here. She can't call you. She's going to call a doctor.
She's going to call a doctor. Well, let me tell you what she can do as she were
(07:43):
kind of as a Permanente member.
Okay. What she can do is do what I just told you, the get care now.
She would get connected with the nurse.
She might have your son sitting right there. They can see, oh my gosh,
his eyes a little red and be able to diagnose and say, he's got pink eye.
Wow. That nurse is going to reach out directly to the pharmacist.
(08:05):
And order the antibiotic, she can go to the pharmacy and she can pick up the
antibiotic or they can have it delivered right to the home.
And she doesn't have to leave because you're here.
She can stay focused on whatever she has to do and get immediate care for her son.
That's what integrated care is. Sign me up.
We can drop the mic on that. I really appreciate you explaining that to us because
(08:29):
I really want the audience to learn a little bit more about what you guys have going on.
Because I've had a lot of friends who have Kaiser Permanente.
A lot of people who are like, tell us a little bit more about that.
I'm so very excited to talk and have further discussion about Kaiser and what you guys are doing.
What's on initiative for next year? Anything going on? Oh my gosh.
So lots of things going on for next year.
The key thing that we're working on is what I just showed you,
(08:51):
is improving and working on the app.
We are launching a new version of our electronic health record system getting into MyChart.
That's going to make it even easier for you to be able to access your records
and communicate with your doctor and, more importantly, help our physicians as they deliver care.
We've also, Jess, and I think there was an article that came out probably a
(09:15):
couple of days ago about the success that we've had with a company,
an artificial intelligence kind of situation company called Abrich.
And we were the first of our entire Kaiser Permanente population,
because we exist across the country in about eight regions.
And what this does is it allows more one-on-one interaction from the physician to the patient.
(09:39):
So oftentimes, you know, when you go into the doctor, the doctor has a laptop
in front and they're typing up all these things and they'll type and type and type.
And then they'll look at you, ask you a question, turn around, type and type and type.
Well, with this technology, the doctor will say to you, Aaron,
do you mind if I use a digital transcriber while you and I have a conversation?
(10:01):
And you would say, of course, yes. Yes. And then the whole entire time I am engaging you with care,
talking to you, asking you questions, and being able to listen,
because that's the key in delivering care, is listening to the patient.
That's the number one thing that patients say when they complain about their
doctor. My doctor doesn't listen to me. Doesn't listen to me at all, right. So listen to you.
(10:26):
And then at the end of the day, they're going to have the transcription right there.
And then they can go, they can tweak it and hand you it. The,
the, what do they call it?
The, the, whatever the notes is when you walk away, I'm drawing a blank right
now, giving it to your hand and walking away. Wow.
I can't wait to learn more about what you guys have going on.
This has been a very, that's what excites me about.
(10:50):
Our organization is, we don't run from technology.
I showed you the technology in the hand. I talked about A-Bridge.
Everybody, when you talk about artificial visual intelligence,
they say, oh my God. They get nervous. They get nervous.
Yeah, you get nervous. What's that going to mean from a privacy standpoint? Very, very important.
But what we look at it from the approach of how can we use these new technologies,
(11:13):
whether it's generative AI or any other kind of AI, to enable and make our physicians'
jobs easier and really help us
deliver better, more innovative care to our members and to our patients.
Folks, you heard it here first. This is the first episode of six.
I can't wait for you guys to hear about all this and more.
(11:34):
Thank you so much for your time. Thank you for being a partner with Nope Except for Dark Podcast.
I appreciate it. Because I think health is so important.
And that's something that I really, we've talked behind the scenes about how
cancer and things of that nature, just friends and families,
but health is so important.
And that right there, had a palm in your hand, it's a game changer.
Yes. Folks, thank you so much. Thank you, Ms. Grayson, for being here.
(11:55):
Thank you. Love, peace, we're out.
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