Dive Brief:
- In the wake of a surge of new measles cases in California, Northern California-based Kaiser Permanente last week began "robo-calling" member households with children who have either not been vaccinated or not completed the measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, two-dose vaccine series.
- About 40,000 Northern California households and more than 98,000 in Southern California will receive calls per Kaiser's plan.
- Experts have traced the current outbreak back to an infected individual who visited Disneyland last month. Additional cases related to Disneyland have been reported in Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Mexico.
Dive Insight:
While keeping customers happy and respecting personal health choices is the typical M.O. of insurers, Kaiser is taking the proactive approach to keep all of its members healthy. According to the California Department of Public Health, there have been 79 confirmed measles cases in the state as of Jan. 28. As Vox adeptly pointed out last week, the benefit of vaccination isn't really the prevention of the disease in the vaccinated individual, it's the prevention of spread. Herd immunity is smart business for Kaiser.
On the national level, Kaiser is doing a lot of outreach to improve the health of communities. Recently, the NBA named Kaiser Permanente as its first-ever healthcare partner in a multi-year deal. The partnership is helping broaden Kaiser Permanente's reach to all consumers, especially those in less-affluent communities that often lack resources to help them lead healthy lifestyles.
