The health and safety of our partners, members, and employees continues to be our top priority. As we enter a busy time of year for Open Enrollment and other meetings, Kaiser Permanente Northwest has provided guidance to our market-facing teams for meetings which are meant to keep both our partners and staff safe. This guidance may impact your interactions with Kaiser Permanente staff, and you may be asked to help implement these guidelines should any in-person meetings be scheduled.

Meeting Guidance:

• A virtual meeting is the preferred format for gatherings of any size, and we will make virtual meeting options available for participants. While Kaiser Permanente is recommending all meetings be held virtually, customer requests for in-person meetings will be assessed on a case-by-case basis with a priority on safety. 
• No in-person meetings will be considered for counties or states with active Stay-at-Home orders.
• Meetings with Medicare members or prospects will all be done virtually given the high risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19 for people over age 65. Kaiser Permanente’s Medicare sales representatives will continue to optimize their virtual capabilities to provide service to our current and prospective Medicare members.
• If an in-person meeting is agreed upon by the customer and Kaiser Permanente staff, then Kaiser Permanente will implement the following safeguards based on guidelines for safe interaction from health authorities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Kaiser Permanente, unless the customer has more stringent guidelines then those will be followed.
• Kaiser Permanente and the customer will agree on the protocols to be enforced during the meeting, and how to proceed if a participant chooses not to comply or an individual is symptomatic upon arrival to the meeting.

Kaiser Permanente will request the following protocols be followed during an in-person meeting:

• Meeting attendees must maintain at least 6 feet of physical distance from other participants at all times. Avoid handshaking, touching and hugging.
• If possible, hold the meeting outdoors.
• Masks will be required indoors and potentially outdoors if individuals are unable to maintain physical distancing requirements. Masks must cover a participants nose and mouth at all times during the meeting.
• Information on safe meeting guidelines will be posted in the meeting space, including a Safety and Symptom Checklist. Symptoms are outlined by the CDC here.
• Participants will be requested to perform a self-temperature/symptom check before attending the meeting.
• The use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer will be encouraged.
• Do not pass materials or equipment from one person to another directly. Instead, materials should be left in a space where participants can retrieve them.
• Serve food and drinks only if they are separated into individual, closed servings and participants can consume while maintaining physical distance. (e.g., boxed lunch)

We appreciate your partnership in helping us prioritize the health of our customers, members and employers. We look forward to working with you this enrollment season. Please reach out to your Sales Executive or Account Manager with any questions about this guidance.