We take great delight in congratulating Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic States Region for winning the 2010 Case In Point Platinum Award in the case management provider program category. Kaiser received the award on April 20 at the National Press Club, in Washington, DC.

The award recognized Kaiser Permanente for their implementation of Guided Care, a proven approach to care management developed by Chad Boult at Johns Hopkins University, with support from the John A. Hartford Foundation and the Jacob and Valeria Langeloth Foundation in partnership with the NIA and AHRQ.

Created by the publisher of Case In Point, the official magazine of the Case Management Society of America, the awards recognize case management excellence across the entire health care spectrum. Guided Care was also a finalist in two other categories: integrated case management program and overall case management program. The April issue of Case In Point features all of the winners.

We at the John A. Hartford Foundation take deep pride in our continued support for Guided Care, a nurse-based care management program for older adults suffering from multiple chronic conditions. What makes this honor particularly meaningful is that Kaiser, which has adopted the Guided Care model, applied for the award because the organization sees tremendous value in the program, and with good reason—it has given them extraordinary results. For example, Guided Care patients utilize 37 percent fewer skilled nursing facility days and 15 percent fewer emergency department visits; physicians report greater satisfaction with patient communication and motivation; Guided Care case managers express high job satisfaction; and patients are twice as likely to rate their quality of care as superlative.

Guided Care continues to gain national recognition for its cost effectiveness and quality of care. We hope that this recognition will encourage more health systems to adopt this approach and other evidence-based case management programs, such as Care Management Plus. Expanding the availability of these programs within our nation’s health delivery system, especially Medicare, will prove critical in effectively managing the health needs of our growing population of older adults.