Transforming Patient Care

Welcome to the Care Management Institute

Our members’ health is our most important priority. That’s why Kaiser Permanente created the Care Management Institute (CMI), where health care professionals and physicians work together to deliver the best evidence-based clinical approaches to improve care delivery.

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About CMI

The Care Management Institute (CMI) supports Kaiser Permanente clinicians to continually improve care by identifying and spreading leading clinical and operational practices, designing integrated care delivery models with stakeholders across the organization, and supporting the national program through partnerships with providers, staff, clinical experts, leaders, patients, and families. We have a very unique and integrated way of working which aids in our ability to elevate and spread leading practices, drawing from the collective knowledge of multiple stakeholders.

Formed in 1997 and co-sponsored by the Permanente Medical Groups and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, CMI strives to ‘make the right thing easy to do’ throughout Kaiser Permanente and beyond.

Quick Facts

The Care Management Institute is a national organization within Kaiser Permanente that synthesizes clinical practices and disseminates knowledge on the best clinical approaches. We then work with regional care delivery teams at Kaiser Permanente to implement those approaches to improve the care for our members.

  • The major focus of CMI’s work is in the design, development and delivery of successful clinical approaches with the aim of producing demonstrably superior health outcomes.
  • Care Management is coordinated health care developed in partnership with physicians, health care professionals and patients. CMI implements its programs and practices by working with physicians and health care professionals throughout the eight Kaiser Permanente regions.
  • CMI draws together Kaiser Permanente’s internal experts in epidemiological research, outcomes measurement, guidelines development, and care redesign to develop and implement programs that are evidence-based and focused on meeting the needs of our members.

Formed in 1997 and co-sponsored by the Permanente Medical Groups and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, CMI strives to ‘make the right thing easy to do’ throughout Kaiser Permanente and beyond.

Our Approach

CMI was created to support Kaiser Permanente in improving the quality of care and health outcomes for members by developing and implementing resources and programs across the organization. Our portfolio ranges from enhancing health care delivery for the chronically ill to integrated cardiovascular disease prevention. Utilizing evidence-based practices, we make it easier for Kaiser Permanente physicians to provide convenient, caring, and affordable health care services. By supporting Kaiser Permanente’s population care priorities, CMI serves as a hub for coordinated learning and innovative clinical approaches, enhancing the organization's capability to deliver leading-edge patient-centered care.

Evidence Services

CMI Evidence Services creates, shares, and leverages clinical content and knowledge to provide an evidence-based foundation to help clinicians deliver effective health care. The content and knowledge are in the form of clinical practice guidelines, clinician guides, and rapid reviews, which are used throughout the Kaiser Permanente regions.

  • Clinical practice guidelines are a collection of recommendations that address the management of patients with a specific condition, which may include detection, diagnosis, and treatment. The clinical recommendations in a guideline are developed under the National Guideline Program using the evidence-based Kaiser Permanente methodology, which requires a systematic review of the medical research.
  • Clinician guides are practice resources that summarize clinical practice guidelines. They may include additional information that help clinicians apply the recommendations in practice.
  • Rapid reviews summarize information on high priority clinical or health care delivery topics to inform evidence-based practice. They use systematic review methods, but streamline and expedite the process to support timely, evidence-informed decisions.

Patient-Centered Improvement

At Kaiser Permanente, we understand that a quality care experience, superior clinical delivery, and efficient, safe operations are all critical to achieving successful outcomes for members. That’s why Kaiser Permanente utilizes the Care Management Institute to provide the expertise and innovation necessary to develop a holistic care approach.  

Understand the patient care experience
We include members as important participants in innovation teams to promote trust and collaboration with provider care team members. By working together, we develop care pathways that are patient-centered and are more likely to result in members understanding health risks and adhering to treatment.

Identify the key steps of the evidence-based clinical process
Each member deserves the best clinical process. We bring together multidisciplinary teams of physician experts to review the medical literature, identify essential evidence-based steps in care pathways, and provide expert consensus based recommendations in situations where no medical evidence exists.

Design and implement the key components of efficient, safe, reliable operation
Through rigorous application of improvement science to complex systems, we enhance existing operations through both incremental improvement and comprehensive redesign.