Case Study: Kaiser Permanente achieves measurable community health improvements across 50+ communities with the Vitality Institute

Kaiser Permanente - Customer Case Study

Kaiser Permanente, a not‑for‑profit health plan serving about 9.6 million members, faced the challenge of improving population health by addressing social, economic, and environmental determinants beyond clinical care. Vitality documented this work in its "Beyond the Four Walls" case study, highlighting Kaiser Permanente’s Community Health Initiatives (CHI) — a place‑based, prevention‑driven strategy that uses Community Health Needs Assessments and targeted investments to prioritize community needs and drive policy, systems, and environmental change.

Vitality described how CHI deployed multi‑year grants, a CHNA data platform, collaborative partnerships, and an evaluation framework using the “population dose” metric to measure impact. According to Vitality’s case study, CHI reached 1.1 million people across 50+ communities with 600 strategies, produced measurable gains (e.g., Modesto: +6 percentage points in children doing 20 minutes of vigorous activity; Santa Rosa: +16 percentage points in children in the “healthy fitness zone”; Northwest Colorado: +2% increase in children’s minutes of physical activity), and has invested more than $58 million since 2004.

Kaiser Permanente

Pamela Schwartz

Director of evaluation for Community Benefit