A
AKY13
Ten years ago and before I uniformly gave Kaiser-Permanente Mid-Atlantic Region the highest ratings NOT TODAY
Background - I ve been with KP Mid-Atlantic something like 40 years from their inception in the Washington DC region In those 4 decades I have had 3 spectacular primary physicians including my current doc of 25 years 1 awful and 1 horrendous Fortunately KP allows a patient to switch physicians I am a hospital Pharmacist by training and have known many physicians both through my work and as a patient I feel a bit better qualified to judge physicians because of my training and background I ve worked in 5 hospitals and 33 years with many physicians in the US Food and Drug Administration The Good - I am a big fan of the HMO concept It is to Kaiser s financial advantage to do the LEAST to me in order to keep me healthy One example I once injured my little toe Kaiser did NOT x-ray the toe because treatment was the same whether or not it was broken There was no medical need to expose me to x-rays A pay-for-service physician WOULD have x-rayed the toe to pad his or her bill In addition to 3 spectacular primary physicians I have had several superb specialists including a cardiologist who saved my life 18 years ago Currently I have a wonderful cardiologist dermatologist gastroenterologist and podiatrist Sadly I had to suffer through 3 terrible gastroenterologists before I got to this one Kaiser STILL has lower mortality and morbidity hospitalization rates than other forms of health insurance I studied them in grad school circa 1971 That is probably the single most important fact about them HOWEVER in my opinion care for non-life threatening quality of life issues has diminished The Kaiser Mid-Atlantic mail order Pharmacy works very well The Bad - KP Mid-Atlantic has changed dramatically over the last 40 years Notably over the last decade I ve been told that some of these negative changes are due to a massive influx of patients due to Medicare expansion While I am glad that many more people are now receiving quality health care I regret that my care may have suffered I also believe that Kaiser Mid-Atlantic swallowed several small local health plans before Medicare expansion I am not able to confirm this belief This influx of patients without accompanying increase in medical personnel resulted in difficulty getting specialty appointments in non-emergent situations For example two weeks ago in October I wanted a follow-up appointment with my Dermatologist for a long standing scalp problem The soonest available was the first week in January more than two months hence This is true for all specialties It is a bit easier to schedule an appointment with my primary physician but scheduling via routine procedures will still produce an appointment date a week or two ahead To be fair it is always possible to get a fairly quick appointment with another qualified physician In addition Kaiser has their own urgent care facility for walk in patients One of my biggest complaints concerns the bureaucratic aspect of Kaiser Patients are told to message Member Services for a variety of issues and questions My experience with this system has been dismal at best Example I messaged with a SUGGESTION that could save Kaiser printing and mailing expenses Somehow that was interpreted as a COMPLAINT that ended up with some outside company that mediates Medicare complaints 13 months ago I was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation likely related to severe sleep apnea I then underwent two sleep studies to determine the extent of my sleep apnea and to identify an appropriate medical device to treat my condition WITHOUT ANY INPUT from ME or information to me the patient a device was ordered and delivered to me The sleep specialist then assigned to me refused or was unable to answer questions I adapted to sleeping with the mask and device without difficulty BUT I returned the device because I did not like the billing practices of the supplier of the device I suspected them of committing fraud Then began a many months long struggle on my part to buy outright a device UNDER MY KAISER MEDICARE coverage between Kaiser and Medicare I pay a LOT for my medical insurance Until last week NO ONE at Kaiser told me anything other than NO Finally I was told that Kaiser ONLY has a relationship with that one company Besides that I suspect the company is cheating both Medicare and Kaiser this is PATHETIC I am currently trying to purchase the device outside of Kaiser but through Medicare Summary - Ten years ago and before I uniformly gave Kaiser-Permanente Mid-Atlantic Region the highest ratings NOT TODAY and not again until and unless they hire more physicians They are supposed to build a new physical facility not far from my home that will help IF they have suitable personne