Kaiser Permanente Promotes New Career Training

Annette Young-White, who spoke at the celebration and encouraged fellow students to keep learning, accepts her certificate.

Jane Baris was pregnant, had a fever and body aches throughout her third trimester, and cared for a toddler at home, but never stopped working or going to school.

"It was hard," said Baris, who gave birth in February. "I had to do a lot of time management." And now the Fremont clerk is among the 51 office and clerical workers from across the region to graduate from the Kaiser Permanente Medical Coder Training Program.

Aiming to promote career advancement while reducing outsourcing, the program is a career upgrade project piloted by the Northern California Office of Labor Management Partnership (LMP), with support from Patient Care Services and Revenue Cycle.

The program had substantial financial support of both the SEIU-UHW West Joint Employer Education Fund and the Ben Hudnall Memorial Trust Fund. In addition to the two trust funds, the program was built on a partnership between labor and management and between Kaiser Permanente and Santa Barbara City College.

Medical coding professionals assign codes into medical records of diseases or other health conditions as well as procedures performed. The codes can be used for evaluating care, collecting bills, or for regulatory reporting.

Impressive Completion and Pass Rates

Program participants celebrated reaching two significant training milestones this summer: passing national Certified Coding Association examination and completing the medical specialist coding certificates.

"This is not just a job," said Anne Cadwell, CFO and SVP of Finance Planning and Consulting, the keynote speaker at the celebration. "It's a career."

Through the program, the employees, who are members of OPEIU Local 29 or SEIU UHW-West from 16 Northern California locations, worked 20 hours a week and went to Santa Barbara City College online for 20 hours a week. The program began in January 2007 and is set to conclude this November.

"When there's an opportunity to change within the company, you have to take it," said James Desmond, a Sacramento medical secretary and one of the student speakers at the celebration. He said he is excited about the new direction of his career, adding that it's interesting and has potential for growth.

Of the 61 employees participating, 51 completed the 33 units of online studies—a higher completion rate than anticipated. Based on similar online programs, leaders estimated 70 percent would complete the studies, rather than the 84 percent who did. Of the 51 employees, all but one passed the national credentialing exam. That's a pass rate of 98 percent, again exceeding expectations. The industry standard is 68 percent for first-time test takers. More than 100 people celebrated these accomplishments at a luncheon in Oakland, California.

Next Step: New Jobs By Year's End

Cadwell said the success is due to all the elements of the program: career counseling, training wage stipends, and the support of their current managers, to name a few. Kaiser Permanente and the two employer trust funds invested approximately $2 million.

From now until the program ends, participants are gaining hands-on coding experience through an internship developed and operated by Northern California Revenue Cycle. Participants continue to split their time between their jobs and training. At the end of the internship, they are expected to transfer into full-time coding positions.

Baris said the program has been challenging but well worth it. "You come out learning new things and a new career is ahead of you."