here is i i o denying the cnoriiious impact of niarket forces on a iniission-drist.n organization. I n the health care industry, as in other industries, esery orpnization must be coniprtitivr to survive. The turbulent marketplace is providing on-the-job training for people in all organizations. And we're discoscriiig t l i x lessons from the niarketplac-e can be harnessed to enhance our soci;il mission r;itlier than diminish it. Kaiser l'eriiianente is what 1 know best. Rut the eight lessons that follo\v can iipply to any mission-drivcn organization. First, ;I bit of background about Kaiser Permanentr and the environment in which it operatcs.
Kaiser Pcrnicmente is the largest integrated health care organization, ;is ii~cll ;I> tlic largest nonprofit organization, in the nation. Wc arc a $15.5 billion ciitcrpriw \it11 9O,OOO cniployecs, 28 hospitals, and niore than 1 O,OOO physicians serving 8.6 million members. O u r roots go back to the 19.30s, whcn the great iiii1ustri;ilist Henry K.iiser started his own health plan for his conipanies' t.iiipI~yee~, froni c-onstruction \.orken on the Grand Coulee Dam project to shipyard workcrs in Ci1ifbriii;i. I t \VJS .I group practice with prepaid services and an emphasis on prevention-the forcrunncr of the modern-day health maintenance organization-and ofiercd a11 i ~i i i o v ; i t i \ ~ ,Irltl ,I(fordable alternative to fee-for-service medical care. In 1945, \vc opcncd nicriiberchip to the public and began operating as a nonprofit organization with ;I cle;rr s;Oci;il inission: to improve thc health of our iiieinbers and our coiiiiriunities. Much of our initial early nnembership came from labor unions.
O u r integrated health care financing and delivery system is niadr up of three entities: the nonprofit health plan, the nonprofit hospitals organization, and the I 1 l'criimieiitc Medical (iroups, locally based and orgiiiizrd a s professional corporations or professiond