Cultural Competency: Case Study of Kaiser Permanente in CA
Culture can
be understood as an integrated pattern of learned beliefs and behaviors that is
shared among groups. As providers, it is important to understand that although culture
is shaped by influences such as race, ethnicity, language, and gender, it also extends
to socioeconomic status, physical and mental ability, sexual orientation, and
other factors. The culmination of these influences is what defines culture and
forms a person’s belief system and motivates their behaviors. As the US becomes
a more culturally diverse nation, healthcare systems and their providers must
develop cultural competency in order to appropriately respond to a patient’s perspectives
and values about their health. Failure to understand sociocultural differences can
lead to misunderstandings and mismanagement of a patient, resulting in significant
health consequences especially for minority groups.
As we
discussed in class, in the early 1990s, studies showed that Asian populations
were the least satisfied with their healthcare within Kaiser Permanente’s Northern
California Region. This resulted in lost business and revenue for Kaiser
Permanente as many Chinese American owned companies explored healthcare contracts
with smaller managed care organizations that had marketing services to specifically
target Chinese American consumers. As a result of this issue, Kaiser Permanente
established a department for multicultural services that provided on-site interpreters
for 14 different languages and dialects. To specifically target the Chinese population
in Northern California, Kaiser developed a call center with a Chinese interpreter
to help Chinese speaking patients schedule appointments, obtain medical advice,
and answer questions about the healthcare system. Additionally, Kaiser
established a cultural diversity advisory board for oversight and consultation for
their program.
As the US
becomes more culturally diverse, healthcare systems and providers must adapt by
developing cultural competency to appropriately manage a patient’s health. Failure
to do so can negatively impact patient health. As evidenced by the
case study of Kaiser Permanente in Northern California, lack of cultural competency
can result in lost business as Chinese American companies sought healthcare contracts
with other managed care organizations. Developing culturally competent services
made good business sense for Kaiser. However, the bigger picture is that cultural competency expanded appropriate healthcare for all patient populations. As a result, Kaiser Permanente and San
Francisco Medical Center is recognized as a center for excellence for linguistic
and cultural services.
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