www.fixkp.org - fixkp.org what's wrong?

What's wrong?

Kaiser Permanente could face losses of as much as $7 billion dollars over the next two years. These losses would be a huge challenge for the organization, and much of it can be prevented! In fact, at least $1.5 billion dollars is being wasted on unreliable, inefficient software.

It's time Kaiser Permanente's Board of Directors corrected our course.

Unwinding.

"We had a whole executive committee that was quite committed to the previous solution... So each [Board member and "all the medical directors"] had to be unwound and reset."

J. Clifford Dodd, chief information officer for Kaiser Permanente, in an October 2005 interview.

If you're wondering how one might go about unwinding and resetting a board, well, that's easy...

Just pick a new one.

In barely four short years, George Halvorson had handpicked a brand new Board of Directors for Kaiser Permanente. Only two others remain on the Board from prior to Mr. Halvorson's hiring. One is Dr. Thomas Chapman, a respected man who has been on the Board for over a decade. The other is Daniel Garcia, the man who hired George Halvorson (and who now reports to him and is responsible for investigating him).

I'm not saying our new Board of Directors is in George Halvorson's pocket, at all. But there is something to be said for the learning curve of joining a new board, especially one that oversees such a complex and important organization as Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals.

So, that, is how you unwind and reset a board.