The National Business Coalition on Health has honored Kaiser Permanente’s family violence prevention program as one of the most innovative health care programs of the year.

KP’s Family Violence Prevention Program in Northern California was one of three winners of the 2007 “eValue8 Health Plan Innovation Awards” bestowed November12, 2007 by the NBCH. The eValue8 awards identify and recognize the innovative and creative work of providers that develop and implement programs that address critical health care issues. The three winners were chosen from more than 60 entries.

The Family Violence Prevention Program was created at KP’s Richmond Medical Center in 1998. It is in place now in all Northern California KP medical centers. It is a comprehensive approach to reduce the impact of domestic violence among KP health plan members through screening, identification and referral. Facilities in other regions are using the Northern California model to create similar family violence prevention programs.



Some of the most visible examples of the program are its “SilentWitness” displays, which depict KP nurses’, physicians’, and general employees’ efforts to cope with, and overcome, domestic violence in their lives.

ASRN recognizes that domestic violence is a critical issue that impacts health care costs and workplace productivity; it's also an issue that nurses can help solve.  The award also highlights one of the reasons many nurses are proud to be associated with Kaiser Permanente.  Like many hospitals, they strive to develop, implement, and measure new approaches to complex health issues, and a desire to share successful practices with other nurses and health care systems.

Since the family violence prevention program was rolled out in 2000, it has measured a threefold increase in the number of KP Northern California members who were identified as being affected by domestic violence. Because the increase is taking place largely through regular office visits, rather than in the emergency room, the program believes that members are being helped before more serious incidents and injuries can occur.

NBCH awards its eValue8 awards based on these criteria:

High member impact
Transportatbility
High provider impact
Public health interest
Evaluation of the program or activity
Precedent setting
The two other winners of eValue8 awards were BlueChoice HealthPlan (South Carolina) for its Great Expectations Migraine Program, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s Collaborative Quality Initiatives program.

The Family Violence Prevention Program was one of three KP programs that reached the finalist stage of the eValue8 awards. Two other finalists were:

The Kaiser Permanente Kids In Dynamic Shape program at Panorama City Medical Center in Southern California. KP KIDS is a comprehensive, family-based program that promotes healthy, dynamic lifestyles in children as a way to combat childhood obesity. Since the program’s inception, children in the program have (on average) reduced body mass, increased physical activity and consumption of fruits and vegetables, and reduced television screen time.

The Palliative Care Team in Kaiser Permanente’s Colorado region, which expands the scope of palliative care in the region to integrate life-prolonging treatments with “whole-person” care that supports body, mind, and spirit. The team’s goal is to honor members’ preferences for medical treatment while still supporting members’ physical, emotional, spiritual, and practical needs.

The National Business Coalition on Health is a nonprofit organization of 70 employer-based health care coalitions, representing more than 7,000 employers and 34 million employees and their dependents in the United States.

Original Press Release: http://xnet.kp.org/newscenter/leadership/2007-11-14-b.html

Video page link: http://xnet.kp.org/domesticviolence/about/video.html#

The Family Violence Prevention Program

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