101 Letters from Kaiser Chairman and CEO To Kaiser Employees

Letters are among the most signifiant memorial a person can laeve behind them.

Johann Wolgang von Goethe (1749—1832)

November 28, 2012 -  George Halvorson, chairman and CEO of Kaiser Permanentate since 2002,  has published  a book of 101letters he wrote to employees ( he prefers to call them “people” and “colleagues”) he has written each week  since September 27, 2007.   The letters are delivered every Friday to every Kaiser employee.

 In his letters,  Halvorson  cheerleads  for Kaiser – praising the organization for every award received, for every increase in health status of Kaiser patients,  for every documented increase in quality or outcomes,  for every step forward in information technology, for every measurable achievement leading to  decreases in mortality or morbidity.

Halvorson candidly tells us  why he writes these letters.

“I do love writing letters..  For me writing letters creates a lovely mindset. I am constantly looking for good things to celebrate. I  definitely believe that I now know quite a bit more about us  as an an organization and as a care system had I not been consistently writing these weekly celebration letters.”

Halvorson has much to  celebrate. Kaiser has cut HIV-AIDS mortality rates in half, reduced pressure ulcers by 60 percent,   prevented the number of broken bones in seniors by 30%, and dramatically reduced death rates for sepsis,  heart attacks, cancers, and diabetes while connecting members and caregivers with electronic records, allowing patients to get their medical records and to email their doctors by IPhone, Android, and other Smartphone., and  teaching the world how to provide patient-focused , electronially  connected team care resulting  in measurable and continuously improving medical outcomes.

The letters are personal,  pithy, and uplifting. The letters have proven to be an effective means of communicating to "colleagues" in a health plan and hospital system that generates $50 billion in revenues  and which has  9 million members, 200,000 caregivers,  and 600 owned sites. Halvorson thinks big by constantly  emphasizing improvements, large and small,   that make a big difference in people's health and survival..

Tweet: For five years,  Kaiser Chairman and CEO, has written weekly letters of celebration to the 200,000 caregivers who make up  Kaiser Pemanente.