Kaiser earns kudos for quality service

Pasadena Star News
By: Cynthia Kurtz

Posted 6/26/2013  

Everybody loves compliments. They make you smile. You want to whistle a happy tune. Kaiser Permanente must be doing a lot of whistling these days. They are receiving compliments from everywhere.

First, they were ranked highest in the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Member Health Plan Satisfaction Study. J.D. Power is a global marketing company that is well known and respected for their customer service studies. The California based company has surveyed customers on just about every imaginable product or service.

Each year the company surveys members of healthcare plans. The 2012 Member Satisfaction Study included responses from more than 32,000 members of commercial health plans - 114 plans in 17 regions were ranked on a 1,000 point scale. Kaiser Permanente healthcare plans ranked highest in five regions - California, Colorado, South Atlantic, Virginia-Maryland-Washington, D.C. and Northwest. 

No “one-hit wonder” here. Each is a repeat winner. Kaiser California and Colorado have each ranked highest in those respective regions for five consecutive years.

A few months later Kaiser Permanente was recognized again, this time for attaining the highest satisfaction among mail-order pharmacies for the fourth year in a row. J.P. Power surveyed 12,700 customers on overall experience, the prescription ordering process, delivery, customer service, and cost competitiveness. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medical Services, the Federal agency which administrators Medicare, Medicaid and the state’s children's health insurance program, gave Kaiser Permanente northern and southern California regions five star ratings - the highest rating available for quality and service. 

The National Committee for Quality Assurance, a nonprofit organization which accredits and certifies a wide-range of healthcare organizations, named Kaiser Permanente Southern California’s Medicare Plan the best in the nation.

Seven of Kaiser’s southern California hospitals were recognized as “top hospitals” by the Leapfrog Group, a national organization dedicated to hospital safety, quality and affordable healthcare. The Leapfrog Group also issues Hospital Safety Scores. Along with 12 other southern California Kaiser Hospitals, the Baldwin Park facility located here in the San Gabriel Valley received an A score as one of the safest hospitals in the nation.

There are more - 8 Stars for Excellence in Quality Report Card, a Women’s Choice Award, two Awards for Leadership in Electronic Records. You get the point. 

Not only is Kaiser Permanente a job creating engine with over 8,700 employees in the SGV, it is a premier healthcare organization.

Solar-power vehicle project under way

Pasadena Star News
By: Cynthia Kurtz

Posted 6/19/2013 

Living in sunny southern California we are reminded every day that the sun is a great source of energy. In fact National Geographic reports that “every hour the sun beams onto Earth more than enough energy to satisfy global energy needs for an entire year.”

Since California is the national poster child for air pollution, we know that burning fossil fuel is the largest contributor to dirty air and automobiles produce a huge portion of those emissions. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), on-road vehicles cause one-third of the air pollution that produces smog and in urban areas that number is even higher. 

We have lots of sunlight and lots of pollution. Now the brain power of the San Gabriel Valley has a plan for using that sunlight to help reduce pollution by using solar power to charge zero emission electric cars. 

All this is taking place in the City of Industry where the state’s largest solar powered electric vehicle project is underway. Two megawatts of solar energy - enough for about 1,300 homes - are used to power an electric vehicle charging station that will someday serve as many as 600 vehicles.

The power is generated by 8,000 solar panels on top of a Metrolink parking structure. As an additional benefit some of the vehicles charged at the station are available for commuters to lease.

The all electric Nissan LEAF was chosen for the leased vehicles adding another tie to the innovation going on in the San Gabriel Valley. Nissan’s preferred vendor for Nissan LEAF chargers is none other than AeroVironment located in Monrovia. 

Eventually, the overall cost of electric vehicles is expected to be less than traditional gasoline powered vehicles but subsidies are still needed today to get these demonstration programs underway. This $12 million project was funded from a variety of sources including a grant of $2 million from the South Coast Air Quality Management District and funding from the City of Industry. 

Our energy future is at best unclear. What is clear is that 57 percent of the oil used in the U.S. is from foreign sources, making us still dangerously dependent on countries and factors we cannot control. 

Seventy percent of the oil used in the U.S. is for transportation - 65 percent of that amount is for personal vehicles - so finding alternative fuels that can be produced and controlled at home is essential. 

As with all complex problems, there is no silver bullet. That is why projects like the electric vehicles powered by the sun project in the City of Industry are so important. Each one tests a new way of using solar power and moves us closer to energy independence and cleaner air.  

Phone technology undergoing changes

Pasadena Star News
By: Cynthia Kurtz
Posted 6/12/2013  

How often do you answer your phone? Not your cell phone, your landline? Do you even have a landline? 

The way the world communicates is rapidly changing. One out of every three American homes is wireless. One-third use voice over internet protocol (VoIP) which transmits the communication via the internet. That leaves just a third of us who still have a traditional landline that uses the public switch telephone network (PSTN) sometimes referred to as plain old telephone service (POTS). Just 10 years ago, 70 percent of household had POTS.

You may be thinking these wireless or VoIP users are mostly young, wealthy, urban dwellers. That may have been true once but today 47 percent of low income adults and 83 percent of Lifeline subscribers live in wireless households. Thirty-one percent of Americans between the ages of 55 and 64 own smart phones.

Wireless phone technologies are having enormous impacts on the way we do business as well. Twenty-five years ago the telephone was used to order products and schedule appointments. Today smart phones allow businesses to manage systems remotely, share data, and access information from anywhere. 

Wireless VoIP service offers cost advantages over cellular service. If you are connected to the Wi-Fi network for Web service and emails, the additional cost for phone service is minimal. Future generations of cells phones are expected to include built in Wi-Fi so your phone can switch automatically between cellular and VoIP even during the same call reducing those nasty “dead zones.”

Industry experts predict that demand for POTS will all but disappear as hybrid phones with the capability of operating off cellular or VoIP provide better reliability at lower costs.

All this sounds great for the consumer and is clearly the direction most consumers are already headed but as always there are a few issues that have to be resolved.

Communication companies need to make significant investments to their IP technology systems. For example, AT&T has invested $96 billion in system improvements since 2007. They plan to invest another $66 billion over the next three years - $14 billion of that to expand and upgrade wireless VoIP networks. They say even this huge investment isn’t enough to keep up with customer demand. 

Current regulations require telephone companies to provide and invest in both PSTN and VoIP networks. By having to offer dual systems the dollars available for investing in the newer technologies are reduced and the ability to make high speed internet available to everyone is slowed.

Telephone service is essential especially for 911 and other emergency calls. PSTN needs to be maintained in areas until a reliable, affordable alternative is available. But should we require that PSTN be maintained when most consumers are choosing an alternative? Or do regulations that encourage innovation and investments in new technologies provide a better path for keeping us competitive in a global economy?

Gas Co. bringing smart meters to SGV

Pasadena Star News
By: Cynthia Kurtz
Posted 6/05/2013 

Coming soon to the San Gabriel Valley - gas meters that communicate, reduce operating costs, improve billing accuracy, make fewer errors, take 1,000 vehicles off the road every day and substantially reduce the frequency of dog bites!

To what am I referring? The Southern California Gas Company’s Advanced Meters Project. SoCalGas employees will soon be adding a battery powered communication module to your existing residential or business meter. The installation will take about 15 minutes and be completed during normal business hours.

After the communication network in your area is fully operational, the meter will read and transmit encrypted natural gas usage information to SoCalGas four times per day. 

The total time the communication device is actually operating during each transmission is just a fraction of a second, all together about two minutes per year. 

The transmission is one way. SoCalGas can’t send a remote signal back to the meter, either to turn it on or shut it off, or change the usage data.

The health effects of the radio frequency transmissions from the advanced meters have been studied by the Electric Power Institute and the World Health Organization. Both have found “no adverse short or long-term effects.” In fact the emissions are much less than many other devices we use in our homes and businesses. For example, using a cell phone causes a million times more exposure than standing next to an advanced meter while it is transmitting.

The advanced meter system will save SoCalGas $3.5 billion over the next 25 years which they have committed to pass on to customers in the form of lower overall rates. The advanced meters will allow customers to access detailed information about how much natural gas they are using hourly. This information will be available on a next-day basis allowing customers to make quick adjustments in usage and save money as well as compare usage over time.

If today you have to have someone available to unlock a gate, provide keys or confine your dog on meter reading day, your life is about to get easier. Access to your meter will only be necessary for infrequent maintenance visits. 

If you are wondering about the jobs that will be lost, yes, meter reading jobs will be lost. But new jobs building, installing and maintaining the advance meter system will be created and SoCalGas is offering education, re-training and career planning for employees who will be affected by this change.

This $1.05 billion upgrade began in October 2012 and will be completed in 2017.  Southern California Gas Company plans to upgrade six million meters. The San Gabriel Valley project will begin in mid to late 2013. You’ll know your meter has been upgraded when you find a notice on your door confirming the installation has occurred.  

Investments in technology and system improvements like the advanced meter project are important to guarantee a safe, reliable, clean supply of energy to our homes and business. 

BizFed survey reveals top concerns

Pasadena Star News
By: Cynthia Kurtz
Posted 5/29/2013  

This week the Los Angeles County Business Federation (BizFed) released its 2013 business survey results. BizFed is composed of over 100 business associations like the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership and chambers of commerce from every corner of Los Angeles County. Their sole purpose is to advocate on issues important to business and they are very good at what they do.

Every year they conduct a poll to “take the pulse of business owners and executives and find out key issues of concern that they deem most critical to the ongoing operation and growth of their business.” 

The 2013 survey contained responses from a wide variety of businesses - 47 percent were CEO’s or business owners, 34 percent represented closed corporations, 23 percent were individual proprietors and 22 percent were business organizations. 

The questions covered 19 topics from infrastructure to immigration and water to worker’s compensation insurance. Five issues clearly stood out as critical.  For the third year in a row taxes and fees were the number one concern. Government at all levels is having trouble paying for services and investing in public infrastructure. In order to maintain service levels they turn to fees and taxes at just the time when businesses are least able to pay.

The second ranked issue - also for the third year in a row - is government regulations.  Clearly this is closely related to fees and taxes. Even though government struggles to meet their current obligations, federal and state regulatory agencies are adding new rules. Someone has to pay for implementing the new rules and the first answer is usually a new fee.

It is easy to see the conundrum we find ourselves in. We can’t afford what we have on the books today but we continue to add new regulations. As if that weren’t enough, there is another aspect of the rules, fees and taxes puzzle that is equally perplexing.  New regulations are developed without much thought given to what they will cost or who will pay for them - and that is by design. 

As an example, last week I was invited to a meeting with representatives from the State Water Resources Control Board. They are looking at new trash regulations and wanted to get input from a variety of interested parties. Good questions about cost effectiveness and who will pay were raised but the representatives told us that while they agreed that those are important questions, they were not allowed to consider them in their rule-making. They just promulgate “effective’ rules that fall to some other agency, presumably local governments, to implement and pay for or force the private sector to pay for. 

No one can think that this is a good way of doing business. It is like buying a $250,000 Bentley because it is the best car made without looking at the sticker price or considering how one will pay for it. Of course in that case a car can be returned. Unfortunately there is no return policy on shortsighted regulations. I am not sure who decided that cost and funding should be considered independent of developing the regulations but it is past time to reconsider that decision.

Sorry but space prevents me from letting you know about the other three top issues from the survey so look for those in weeks to come.