I sent this email to San Diego Kaiser Permanente's Chief Financial Officer and Chief of Records Lynette Seid today:
Dear Ms. [Lynette] Seid:
Your subordinates have come up completely empty in response to my April 7, 2014 request for radiological images.
I did receive 24 pages of paper records from my medical record today by certified mail.
So it seems that the Radiology Records department is the problem.
Sincerely,
Maura Larkins
Showing posts with label . Seid (Lynette). Show all posts
Showing posts with label . Seid (Lynette). Show all posts
Saturday, May 17, 2014
Thursday, May 1, 2014
CFO Lynette Seid and Dr. Eugene Rhee, chief of urology, at Kaiser Permanente in San Diego, are up to their old tricks
See also:
Finally, a Kaiser doctor, oncologist Jennifer Lycette, speaks out about doctors forced to allow harm to patients to increase profits--CLICK HERE
If Kaiser were telling the truth about the images of my VUCG, it wouldn't have gone to all the trouble of creating a hoax set of 7 images, with four images appearing twice and one image appearing three times, trying to pretend it's a set of 13 images! See the images here.
Lynette Seid, who is both CFO and chief of medical records at Kaiser Permanente in San Diego, and Dr. Eugene Rhee, chief of urology, told me a bizarre story to explain the absence of my digital X-rays on Kaiser San Diego's main computer, but the story has fallen apart.
Dr. Paul Bernstein and Dr. Andrew Golden started a review of this episode, but canceled the review within a week.
Lynette Seid is legally required to give me copies of my X-ray images. To avoid doing that, she created a CD which she claimed was scanned thermal paper images!
Much to the consternation of Seid and Rhee, the innocent underlings at Kaiser keep telling the truth. The technician who did my VUCG said my digital video would be uploaded to the main Kaiser computer. It never was. A clerk in Radiology records said that I could have a CD of the digital video for $10. I sent the money, but I didn't get the CD.
For some reason, doctors wanted to conceal the VUCG results. I assume that the reason is the typical one at Kaiser: saving money by denying care.
When I complained, Kaiser wrote to me that the digital video I had witnessed on the computer monitor WAS NOT SAVED--except that a few THERMAL PAPER IMAGES HAD BEEN PRINTED OUT DURING THE PROCEDURE.
In fact, the test had been done on a brand new digital fluoroscopy machine at the brand new Garfield Specialty Center in San Diego. The Center had had a grand opening one week earlier, and Kaiser Permanente's newsletter boasted that all X-rays were digital. In fact, the "thermal paper" images were simply digital images printed out on high quality paper.
This month, Ms. Seid's subordinate "SR" got caught flat-footed because she had no idea she was supposed to claim that X-rays were saved only on thermal paper in 2011. SR accidentally revealed information that Ms. Seid had gone to a great deal of trouble to conceal.
On April 7, 2014 I submitted a request to Radiology Records for the VUCG digital video.
Strangely, I was told by multiple individuals on April 7, 2014 that they had "still" images for a procedure done on me on June 16 2011. I did not have any procedure on June 16, 2011. My VUCG procedure was on June 15, 2011.
April 7, 2014
When I turned in my request at the radiology window, the young man who was sitting there immediately started preparing a CD. I asked if it was a digital video that he was preparing. He said it was a set of 13 still images from a procedure that was dated June 16, 2011. He was going to charge me $15 for the CD—from the wrong date! I said I wanted the digital video from June 15, 2011, not still images dated June 16, 2011.
The young man went to get someone else to talk to me. He went and sat at another desk and waited while a young woman named “V” sat down in his chair.
V asked me, “What are you going to play the CD on?
I was dumbfounded for a moment since this question seemed so bizarre. I was planning to play it on, and upload it to, my computer, but I didn’t understand why she was concerned about this. I figured I was free to do whatever I wanted with it, including using it as a bookmark or a Frisbee.
V asked me again, “What are you going to play the CD on?
I finally shrugged and said, “Whatever I feel like playing it on.”
Van said there was no video.
But then she started talking about VHS tapes. “If it’s on VHS…” she said, but then she didn’t finish her sentence. Perhaps eyebrows knitted and my mouth dropped open when she started talking about VHS tapes.
Van went to get J.
J, who said her title was “a senior”, said, “We don’t have moving videos.”
J said her supervisor is SR, and SR’s supervisor is Mary Hanshaw, who is the ADA for radiology files, but she refused to tell me who Mary Hanshaw’s supervisor is.
She said I should call the two names she gave me, but she didn’t give me phone numbers. Perhaps I was supposed to call out their names loudly?
I waited while J made a call. She wouldn’t give me SR’s phone number. Finally she said SR will call me.
TRANSCRIPT OF PHONE CALL FROM KAISER RADIOLOGY DEPARTMENT
SR phone call April 7, 2014
SR called me on my cell phone. She identified herself as “Manager here at Radiology Records.” I was not able to write fast enough to record every single word, but I recorded most of the conversation.
SR: Was your procedure done in urology department?
ML: Yes.
SR: What date?
ML: June 15, 2011.
SR: I have June 16, 2011. I am not aware of any moving video. I know they watch it on fluoroscopy which is like a video camera which is not actually taped.
SR: [With] fluoroscopy you can watch moving images. Those images are not saved by videotape which I think is what you are referring to. Usually they take pictures in between live video fluoroscopy. Fluoroscopy is live X-rays like a video camera. You never record moving images. For that type of procedure it’s not fully reported from beginning to end. Just spot pictures.
ML: “Spot pictures” are X-ray on a film?
SR: Correct.
ML: Do you have some films from my procedure?
SR: I’m not sure. But we don’t have moving videos. If there is anything it would be a film.
ML: Sometimes you do have plain film for people who have VUCGs?
SR: Yes, because we do it a lot on babies. I can find out if there are plain films.
ML: I’d like you to do that.
ML: So there are never any digital videos for VUCGs?
SR: For this particular exam, no. And that’s common practice, not just Kaiser. Angiograms, they tape that.
ML: You know what a VUCG is?
SR: Yes, it’s a voiding urethrocystogram.
ML: And you know for a fact that they don’t make digital videos of them?
SR: I’m 99% positive. We do babies…
ML: How about adults?
SR: I don’t even think they have the capability to do it.
ML: This is the latest technology?
SR: Correct. That’s common practice.
ML: Can you find out if anybody gets digital videos for VUCGs?
SR: I’ve been here for 20 years and it’s something I’ve never known has been done her as well as in the outside community. It’s not a standard of care.
ML: Can you find out?
SR: If it’s done at urology? I would have to call urology.
ML: You have an obligation to produce records if they exist. So you will call me when you find out?
SR: Yes, I will.
ML: Thank you. Bye-bye.
April 8, 2014
Stephanie Ritter called back.
SR: I reached out to the chief of urology and confirmed that we do not tape. You used the word video. We do not tape the full fluoroscopy for VUCGs. Your X-ray jacket is in our main warehouse up in L.A. and we’ve ordered that to be delivered and hope to have it by the end of this week so we can review if there are any images in the jacket. [Maura Larkins’ thought: why would there be an X-ray jacket if there were no images????] They can take plain film pictures between the exam.
ML: Do they use thermal paper?
[I asked this because Dr. Rhee, Lynette Seid, Andrew Golden and everyone else I talked to at Kaiser had previously told me that images from my procedure had only been saved on thermal paper. This bizarre claim was even put in writing.]
SR: No. Thermal paper hasn’t been used in a long time. Thermal paper was used in mammography more than 20 years ago.
ML: There were no digital images saved?
SR: You used the word “video”. There was no taping. That is not procedure.
ML: Are there digital images?
SR: I don’t know if they would be digital.
ML: Is there a possibility they might be digital?
SR: What do you mean by digital? [ML note: SR didn’t allow me to answer that question.] It was probably around the time we started to convert to digital in regular radiology, not necessarily in urology. Southern California, from L.A. down, did start to convert to non-film images.
ML: When you say “converting to non-film”, you mean digital?
SR: Correct. But I want to be careful about what you’re understanding. A film can be converted to digital and digital can be converted to film. [Maura Larkins’ thought: Why would anyone want to convert from digital to film????]
ML: Right now urology never uses digital X-rays or fluoroscopy?
SR: Fluoroscopy and digital are different things. We do not use video cameras.
ML: Fluoroscopy is never digital?
SR: I’m not going to say NO. Depending on type [page 6 begins here]of machine.
ML: Sometimes fluoroscopy is recorded digitally?
SR: I’m not going to answer that because it does not relate to VUCG. For a voiding urethrocystogram there is not recording of fluoroscopy.
ML: You talked to Dr. Rhee?
SR: Yes. I don’t want to mislead you.
ML: You don’t want to mislead me?
SR: Mrs. Larkins, please don’t put words in my mouth. I don’t want to miscommunicate with you.
ML: You said, “I don’t want to mislead you.”
SR: I don’t want to mislead you into something you may not understand due to dynamics of urology department.
ML: You don’t want to mislead me, do you?
SR: Mrs. Larkins, is there anything I can answer?
ML: I want you to answer this: you don’t want to mislead me, do you?
SR: I want to give you correct information. I want you to understand the dynamics of procedures. You should call Mary Hanshaw. They gave you her information.
ML: They gave me her name, but not her number.
SR: [silence]
ML: They gave me her name, but not her number.
SR: [silence]
ML: Hint, hint.
SR: Are you asking me something?
ML: I’m asking for her number.
SR: 619 528 5527. Mary is on vacation.
ML: What is her title?
SR: Director of Radiology.
ML: Who is her supervisor?
SR: Dana Gascay.
ML: What is her position?
SR: Associate Medical Group Administrator. I don’t have her information.
ML: Who is her supervisor?
SR: Jim Malone.
ML: There must be someone between her and Jim Malone.
SR: Nope, there’s not.
ML: If there is an Associate Medical Group Administrator, wouldn’t there be a Medical Group Administrator?
SR: Which is Jim Malone.
ML: I bet sometimes you don’t like your job, do you?
SR: I love my job.
ML: Surely you don’t enjoy telling me these things?
SR: I’m just telling you the truth.
ML: I hope you don’t have to do any more phone calls like this today. It really must be stressful.
SR: Well, you have a wonderful afternoon.
ML: Okay. Bye-bye.
FOLLOW-UP PHONE CALLS TO MARY HANSHAW
I called Mary Hanshaw several times at 619 528 5527.
On April 24, 2014 I called but no person or machine picked up.
On April 25, 2014 I called 619 528 5527 and talked to Elsa, who transferred me to Mary Hanshaw’s answering machine. The recorded message said, “This is Mary Hanshaw, Director of Diagnostic Imaging.”
I left this message: “This is Maura Larkins. On April 7 I submitted a request to view records. 14 days have passed and I still haven’t seen records. It’s supposed to be 5 days. Please call me...”
On May 1, 2014 I called and talked to a man, who transferred me to Mary Hanshaw’s answering machine/voice mail.
I left a message:
This is Maura Larkins. I left a message on April 25 and I haven’t heard back. I made a records request on April 7. I talked to Stephanie Ritter. She said she would check my X-ray chart [I meant to say “jacket”] but she hasn’t gotten back to me. I haven’t heard from her since April 8. Please call me... And please send the records. I believe you are beyond the legal limit for this request.
FOLLOW-UP CALL TO SR:
On May 1, 2014 I called Stephanie Ritter at 619 528 3297. Her personal greeting on her voicemail said she’s out of the office. She continued, “If you need assistance, contact the secretary at 528 5538” or the clerk at 619 528 5417.
Then the message switched to someone else’s voice:
“Sorry, the mailbox belonging to Stephanie Ritter has an extended absence greeting in place and will not accept new messages.”
EMAIL TO LYNETTE SEID:
I sent an email to Lynette Seid on April 24, 2014 telling her that her subordinates were not complying with the law. She has not responded as of May 1, 2014.
If Kaiser were telling the truth about the images of my VUCG, it wouldn't have gone to all the trouble of creating a hoax set of 7 images, with four images appearing twice and one image appearing three times, trying to pretend it's a set of 13 images! See the images here.
Lynette Seid, who is both CFO and chief of medical records at Kaiser Permanente in San Diego, and Dr. Eugene Rhee, chief of urology, told me a bizarre story to explain the absence of my digital X-rays on Kaiser San Diego's main computer, but the story has fallen apart.
Dr. Paul Bernstein and Dr. Andrew Golden started a review of this episode, but canceled the review within a week.
Lynette Seid is legally required to give me copies of my X-ray images. To avoid doing that, she created a CD which she claimed was scanned thermal paper images!
Much to the consternation of Seid and Rhee, the innocent underlings at Kaiser keep telling the truth. The technician who did my VUCG said my digital video would be uploaded to the main Kaiser computer. It never was. A clerk in Radiology records said that I could have a CD of the digital video for $10. I sent the money, but I didn't get the CD.
For some reason, doctors wanted to conceal the VUCG results. I assume that the reason is the typical one at Kaiser: saving money by denying care.
When I complained, Kaiser wrote to me that the digital video I had witnessed on the computer monitor WAS NOT SAVED--except that a few THERMAL PAPER IMAGES HAD BEEN PRINTED OUT DURING THE PROCEDURE.
In fact, the test had been done on a brand new digital fluoroscopy machine at the brand new Garfield Specialty Center in San Diego. The Center had had a grand opening one week earlier, and Kaiser Permanente's newsletter boasted that all X-rays were digital. In fact, the "thermal paper" images were simply digital images printed out on high quality paper.
This month, Ms. Seid's subordinate "SR" got caught flat-footed because she had no idea she was supposed to claim that X-rays were saved only on thermal paper in 2011. SR accidentally revealed information that Ms. Seid had gone to a great deal of trouble to conceal.
On April 7, 2014 I submitted a request to Radiology Records for the VUCG digital video.
Strangely, I was told by multiple individuals on April 7, 2014 that they had "still" images for a procedure done on me on June 16 2011. I did not have any procedure on June 16, 2011. My VUCG procedure was on June 15, 2011.
April 7, 2014
When I turned in my request at the radiology window, the young man who was sitting there immediately started preparing a CD. I asked if it was a digital video that he was preparing. He said it was a set of 13 still images from a procedure that was dated June 16, 2011. He was going to charge me $15 for the CD—from the wrong date! I said I wanted the digital video from June 15, 2011, not still images dated June 16, 2011.
The young man went to get someone else to talk to me. He went and sat at another desk and waited while a young woman named “V” sat down in his chair.
V asked me, “What are you going to play the CD on?
I was dumbfounded for a moment since this question seemed so bizarre. I was planning to play it on, and upload it to, my computer, but I didn’t understand why she was concerned about this. I figured I was free to do whatever I wanted with it, including using it as a bookmark or a Frisbee.
V asked me again, “What are you going to play the CD on?
I finally shrugged and said, “Whatever I feel like playing it on.”
Van said there was no video.
But then she started talking about VHS tapes. “If it’s on VHS…” she said, but then she didn’t finish her sentence. Perhaps eyebrows knitted and my mouth dropped open when she started talking about VHS tapes.
Van went to get J.
J, who said her title was “a senior”, said, “We don’t have moving videos.”
J said her supervisor is SR, and SR’s supervisor is Mary Hanshaw, who is the ADA for radiology files, but she refused to tell me who Mary Hanshaw’s supervisor is.
She said I should call the two names she gave me, but she didn’t give me phone numbers. Perhaps I was supposed to call out their names loudly?
I waited while J made a call. She wouldn’t give me SR’s phone number. Finally she said SR will call me.
TRANSCRIPT OF PHONE CALL FROM KAISER RADIOLOGY DEPARTMENT
SR phone call April 7, 2014
SR called me on my cell phone. She identified herself as “Manager here at Radiology Records.” I was not able to write fast enough to record every single word, but I recorded most of the conversation.
SR: Was your procedure done in urology department?
ML: Yes.
SR: What date?
ML: June 15, 2011.
SR: I have June 16, 2011. I am not aware of any moving video. I know they watch it on fluoroscopy which is like a video camera which is not actually taped.
SR: [With] fluoroscopy you can watch moving images. Those images are not saved by videotape which I think is what you are referring to. Usually they take pictures in between live video fluoroscopy. Fluoroscopy is live X-rays like a video camera. You never record moving images. For that type of procedure it’s not fully reported from beginning to end. Just spot pictures.
ML: “Spot pictures” are X-ray on a film?
SR: Correct.
ML: Do you have some films from my procedure?
SR: I’m not sure. But we don’t have moving videos. If there is anything it would be a film.
ML: Sometimes you do have plain film for people who have VUCGs?
SR: Yes, because we do it a lot on babies. I can find out if there are plain films.
ML: I’d like you to do that.
ML: So there are never any digital videos for VUCGs?
SR: For this particular exam, no. And that’s common practice, not just Kaiser. Angiograms, they tape that.
ML: You know what a VUCG is?
SR: Yes, it’s a voiding urethrocystogram.
ML: And you know for a fact that they don’t make digital videos of them?
SR: I’m 99% positive. We do babies…
ML: How about adults?
SR: I don’t even think they have the capability to do it.
ML: This is the latest technology?
SR: Correct. That’s common practice.
ML: Can you find out if anybody gets digital videos for VUCGs?
SR: I’ve been here for 20 years and it’s something I’ve never known has been done her as well as in the outside community. It’s not a standard of care.
ML: Can you find out?
SR: If it’s done at urology? I would have to call urology.
ML: You have an obligation to produce records if they exist. So you will call me when you find out?
SR: Yes, I will.
ML: Thank you. Bye-bye.
April 8, 2014
Stephanie Ritter called back.
SR: I reached out to the chief of urology and confirmed that we do not tape. You used the word video. We do not tape the full fluoroscopy for VUCGs. Your X-ray jacket is in our main warehouse up in L.A. and we’ve ordered that to be delivered and hope to have it by the end of this week so we can review if there are any images in the jacket. [Maura Larkins’ thought: why would there be an X-ray jacket if there were no images????] They can take plain film pictures between the exam.
ML: Do they use thermal paper?
[I asked this because Dr. Rhee, Lynette Seid, Andrew Golden and everyone else I talked to at Kaiser had previously told me that images from my procedure had only been saved on thermal paper. This bizarre claim was even put in writing.]
SR: No. Thermal paper hasn’t been used in a long time. Thermal paper was used in mammography more than 20 years ago.
ML: There were no digital images saved?
SR: You used the word “video”. There was no taping. That is not procedure.
ML: Are there digital images?
SR: I don’t know if they would be digital.
ML: Is there a possibility they might be digital?
SR: What do you mean by digital? [ML note: SR didn’t allow me to answer that question.] It was probably around the time we started to convert to digital in regular radiology, not necessarily in urology. Southern California, from L.A. down, did start to convert to non-film images.
ML: When you say “converting to non-film”, you mean digital?
SR: Correct. But I want to be careful about what you’re understanding. A film can be converted to digital and digital can be converted to film. [Maura Larkins’ thought: Why would anyone want to convert from digital to film????]
ML: Right now urology never uses digital X-rays or fluoroscopy?
SR: Fluoroscopy and digital are different things. We do not use video cameras.
ML: Fluoroscopy is never digital?
SR: I’m not going to say NO. Depending on type [page 6 begins here]of machine.
ML: Sometimes fluoroscopy is recorded digitally?
SR: I’m not going to answer that because it does not relate to VUCG. For a voiding urethrocystogram there is not recording of fluoroscopy.
ML: You talked to Dr. Rhee?
SR: Yes. I don’t want to mislead you.
ML: You don’t want to mislead me?
SR: Mrs. Larkins, please don’t put words in my mouth. I don’t want to miscommunicate with you.
ML: You said, “I don’t want to mislead you.”
SR: I don’t want to mislead you into something you may not understand due to dynamics of urology department.
ML: You don’t want to mislead me, do you?
SR: Mrs. Larkins, is there anything I can answer?
ML: I want you to answer this: you don’t want to mislead me, do you?
SR: I want to give you correct information. I want you to understand the dynamics of procedures. You should call Mary Hanshaw. They gave you her information.
ML: They gave me her name, but not her number.
SR: [silence]
ML: They gave me her name, but not her number.
SR: [silence]
ML: Hint, hint.
SR: Are you asking me something?
ML: I’m asking for her number.
SR: 619 528 5527. Mary is on vacation.
ML: What is her title?
SR: Director of Radiology.
ML: Who is her supervisor?
SR: Dana Gascay.
ML: What is her position?
SR: Associate Medical Group Administrator. I don’t have her information.
ML: Who is her supervisor?
SR: Jim Malone.
ML: There must be someone between her and Jim Malone.
SR: Nope, there’s not.
ML: If there is an Associate Medical Group Administrator, wouldn’t there be a Medical Group Administrator?
SR: Which is Jim Malone.
ML: I bet sometimes you don’t like your job, do you?
SR: I love my job.
ML: Surely you don’t enjoy telling me these things?
SR: I’m just telling you the truth.
ML: I hope you don’t have to do any more phone calls like this today. It really must be stressful.
SR: Well, you have a wonderful afternoon.
ML: Okay. Bye-bye.
FOLLOW-UP PHONE CALLS TO MARY HANSHAW
I called Mary Hanshaw several times at 619 528 5527.
On April 24, 2014 I called but no person or machine picked up.
On April 25, 2014 I called 619 528 5527 and talked to Elsa, who transferred me to Mary Hanshaw’s answering machine. The recorded message said, “This is Mary Hanshaw, Director of Diagnostic Imaging.”
I left this message: “This is Maura Larkins. On April 7 I submitted a request to view records. 14 days have passed and I still haven’t seen records. It’s supposed to be 5 days. Please call me...”
On May 1, 2014 I called and talked to a man, who transferred me to Mary Hanshaw’s answering machine/voice mail.
I left a message:
This is Maura Larkins. I left a message on April 25 and I haven’t heard back. I made a records request on April 7. I talked to Stephanie Ritter. She said she would check my X-ray chart [I meant to say “jacket”] but she hasn’t gotten back to me. I haven’t heard from her since April 8. Please call me... And please send the records. I believe you are beyond the legal limit for this request.
FOLLOW-UP CALL TO SR:
On May 1, 2014 I called Stephanie Ritter at 619 528 3297. Her personal greeting on her voicemail said she’s out of the office. She continued, “If you need assistance, contact the secretary at 528 5538” or the clerk at 619 528 5417.
Then the message switched to someone else’s voice:
“Sorry, the mailbox belonging to Stephanie Ritter has an extended absence greeting in place and will not accept new messages.”
EMAIL TO LYNETTE SEID:
I sent an email to Lynette Seid on April 24, 2014 telling her that her subordinates were not complying with the law. She has not responded as of May 1, 2014.
Friday, April 25, 2014
Kaiser Permanente San Diego CFO Lynnette Seid personally created a hoax CD of X-ray images
UPDATE APRIL 30, 2014:
CLICK HERE for a transcript of my bizarre adventures in the Kaiser Radiology Records Department in April 2014.
UPDATE APRIL 28, 2014:
I went to Kaiser today to get medical records that I thought might be interesting. I was not disappointed. I discovered that the last doctor I visited at Kaiser wrote this:
Is that cute or what? I don't think the doctor who wrote this meant to be quite so truthful about her inability to give an honest second opinion.
ORIGINAL POST ABOUT KAISER CONCEALING TEST RESULTS:
Lynette Seid, CFO and chief administrator
for San Diego Kaiser medical records
See also: Is Kaiser Permanente violating the California Business and Professions Code with false advertising about digitized x-rays?
Lynette Seid is not only Kaiser Permanente San Diego Area's Chief Financial Officer. She's also the chief administrator in charge of medical records.
I asked for a CD of my digital VUCG X-ray images to take to an out-of-plan doctor, and in response, Lynette Seid created a CD with the following X-ray images.
It pretends to be a set of 13 images, but it actually consists of only 7 distinct images.
Four of the images appear twice, labeled with different numbers, but with the exact same time stamp:
#1 is identical to #4;
#2 is identical to #3,
#7 is identical to #9, and
#8 is identical #12.
One image appears three times!
(#10, #11 and #13 are identical).
Some of the copies have labels added (“scout,” “voiding,” and “post-void”), but the time stamped on each image identifies it precisely.
Image #6 is of particular interest; it is the one new image that Kaiser was willing to produce for an out-of-plan doctor.
See the 13 images--or rather, 7 images--here.
Nice work, Lynette! A particularly nice touch was the high-tech CD Lynetter sent me. When I open up the bizarre images, which were first printed out and THEN were scanned, and therefore provide extremely little information, I get a rapid slide show just by moving my cursor across the images. Lynette is pretending that someone might actually be looking at these images for the purpose of discerning information about the X-rays. In fact, the images only provide information about how desperate Kaiser is to conceal information about the X-rays it took.
See all posts re Lynette Seid.
CAN BAD DOCTORS CREATE GOOD KNOWLEDGE?
I believe the answer is YES. Kaiser Permanente, for example, has guidelines that require doctors to sacrifice many patients for the purpose of increasing profits. At the same time, Kaiser collects information that helps it improve the treatment of patients who can be treated without sacrificing profits.
"IN MAY 1988, Dr Robert Pozos, a hypothermia researcher at the University of Minnesota, said he planned to analyse and republish a contemporary 56-page report on infamous Dachau experiments in which almost 300 male prisoners were placed in vats of freezing water.
"The men were observed, measured and analysed, sometimes to the point of death; sometimes they were warmed up again with boiling water. Pozos said he could learn how to treat people with hypothermia better if he understood what went on at Dachau."
This sparked off a passionate debate about the ethics of knowledge. Conferences, seminars, letters and speeches the world over have struggled with what to do about Pozos's approach. Some argued the knowledge should never be used because it was gained immorally. Others asked: "Should we not look at the pyramids because they were built using slave labour?" Eventually, Pozos used the knowledge, but the debate continues. The New England Journal of Medicine, for example, does not publish citations of the work.
Contacts and staff : Information : Nature Reviews Urology
www.nature.com/nrurol/info/info_contacts.html
Nature
Chief Editor: Annette Fenner, MBBS, PhD Acting Chief Editor: Sarah Payton, PhD Senior Editor: Melanie ... PhD; David Killock, PhD Cross-Journal Associate Editors: Tim Geach, PhD Editorial Support Manager: ... Clinical Practice & Research.
CLICK HERE for a transcript of my bizarre adventures in the Kaiser Radiology Records Department in April 2014.
UPDATE APRIL 28, 2014:
I went to Kaiser today to get medical records that I thought might be interesting. I was not disappointed. I discovered that the last doctor I visited at Kaiser wrote this:
When asked how I could help her, [Maura Larkins] states that "really I just wanted to meet you because when I asked Dr. X for a transfer to another doctor, [Dr. X] said anyone except Dr. Z". Patient felt that...I would be honest and maybe go against what my supervisor's might want me to do. Discussed with the patient that this wasn't the case at all...
Is that cute or what? I don't think the doctor who wrote this meant to be quite so truthful about her inability to give an honest second opinion.
ORIGINAL POST ABOUT KAISER CONCEALING TEST RESULTS:
Lynette Seid, CFO and chief administrator
for San Diego Kaiser medical records
See also: Is Kaiser Permanente violating the California Business and Professions Code with false advertising about digitized x-rays?
Lynette Seid is not only Kaiser Permanente San Diego Area's Chief Financial Officer. She's also the chief administrator in charge of medical records.
I asked for a CD of my digital VUCG X-ray images to take to an out-of-plan doctor, and in response, Lynette Seid created a CD with the following X-ray images.
It pretends to be a set of 13 images, but it actually consists of only 7 distinct images.
Four of the images appear twice, labeled with different numbers, but with the exact same time stamp:
#1 is identical to #4;
#2 is identical to #3,
#7 is identical to #9, and
#8 is identical #12.
One image appears three times!
(#10, #11 and #13 are identical).
Some of the copies have labels added (“scout,” “voiding,” and “post-void”), but the time stamped on each image identifies it precisely.
Image #6 is of particular interest; it is the one new image that Kaiser was willing to produce for an out-of-plan doctor.
See the 13 images--or rather, 7 images--here.
Nice work, Lynette! A particularly nice touch was the high-tech CD Lynetter sent me. When I open up the bizarre images, which were first printed out and THEN were scanned, and therefore provide extremely little information, I get a rapid slide show just by moving my cursor across the images. Lynette is pretending that someone might actually be looking at these images for the purpose of discerning information about the X-rays. In fact, the images only provide information about how desperate Kaiser is to conceal information about the X-rays it took.
Lynette Seid (Mulan7224) on Twitter
Life is truly wonderful when you love what you do and you have someone very special to share your life!
[Maura Larkins response: Seriously, Lynette? You love doing stuff like this? Do you get paid a lot to do it? And get lots of appreciation from other extremely highly-paid executives? Perhaps you are blocking out the reality that life isn't truly wonderful when one's medical records are concealed by happy folks like you.]
See all posts re Lynette Seid.
CAN BAD DOCTORS CREATE GOOD KNOWLEDGE?
I believe the answer is YES. Kaiser Permanente, for example, has guidelines that require doctors to sacrifice many patients for the purpose of increasing profits. At the same time, Kaiser collects information that helps it improve the treatment of patients who can be treated without sacrificing profits.
"IN MAY 1988, Dr Robert Pozos, a hypothermia researcher at the University of Minnesota, said he planned to analyse and republish a contemporary 56-page report on infamous Dachau experiments in which almost 300 male prisoners were placed in vats of freezing water.
"The men were observed, measured and analysed, sometimes to the point of death; sometimes they were warmed up again with boiling water. Pozos said he could learn how to treat people with hypothermia better if he understood what went on at Dachau."
This sparked off a passionate debate about the ethics of knowledge. Conferences, seminars, letters and speeches the world over have struggled with what to do about Pozos's approach. Some argued the knowledge should never be used because it was gained immorally. Others asked: "Should we not look at the pyramids because they were built using slave labour?" Eventually, Pozos used the knowledge, but the debate continues. The New England Journal of Medicine, for example, does not publish citations of the work.
Contacts and staff : Information : Nature Reviews Urology
www.nature.com/nrurol/info/info_contacts.html
Nature
Chief Editor: Annette Fenner, MBBS, PhD Acting Chief Editor: Sarah Payton, PhD Senior Editor: Melanie ... PhD; David Killock, PhD Cross-Journal Associate Editors: Tim Geach, PhD Editorial Support Manager: ... Clinical Practice & Research.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Is Kaiser Permanente violating the California Business and Professions Code with false advertising about digitized x-rays?
Kaiser Permanente boasts about its new Garfield Specialty Center in its October 2011 e-newsletter: "All our X-rays and imaging tests are digital and become part of your electronic health record, which can help speed diagnosis and treatment."
But Kaiser Member Services wrote to me on August 3, 2011 that x-rays taken on June 15, 2011 at the Garfield Specialty Center were not available to my urologist or to Emergency Room doctors because they were saved only on thermal paper! No images at all were available to Emergency Room doctors.
Kaiser wrote:
"Per our records I understand that you spoke with...the X-ray Department on July 11, 2011 where it was explained that the urethra cystogram could not be downloaded to a CD due to it was not digitized. Urethra cystogram was not saved electronically and
we can provide medical record on thermal paper."
(Click on image to enlarge.)
Which is it, Kaiser? Are all x-rays at Garfield Specialty Center digitized, or did Kaiser move some old machines into the new building, and those machines can only save x-rays on thermal paper? Obviously, both claims can not be true.
Kaiser tampered with medical records and created a bizarre series of paper images to hide x-rays. Kaiser was determined to prove that the patient did not have the problem she claimed to have. This plan was written down by the referring doctor in an email to the Department Administrator before the procedure was done. I have written to Dave Horton and Rhianne Steins, who head the Diagnositic Imaging Department, but I've received no response. Chief Financial Officer Lynette Seid was kind enough to respond to me, but she admits she doesn't know much about the issue, and says it will take her two to four weeks to sort it out. And as one can see from the above image, Liza Zinola, Service Area Assistant Administrator for Member Services, is actively supporting the cover-up.
What possessed some Kaiser administrator to plan such an incompetent hoax? I think they are used to having patients who ask no questions.
Here's the Kaiser article:
Garfield Specialty Center in full bloom
Partners in Health e-newsletter
October 2011
If you live near Central San Diego, you’ll be happy to hear that our Garfield Specialty Center is now fully open for business.
Our Garfield Specialty Center “offers a convenient, central location for members to receive same-day surgery and medical care from 58 specialty care providers,” says Mary Ann Barnes, senior vice president and executive director of Kaiser Permanente in San Diego.
(Click on image to enlarge.)
The Ambulatory Surgery Center has four operating suites, six gastrointestinal procedure suites, and pre- and post-operative patient care areas. Other services available include:
orthopedics
podiatry
pain management
plastic surgery
general surgery
head and neck surgery
audiology
gastroenterology
urology
pharmacy
laboratory
radiology
All our X-rays and imaging tests are digital and become part of your electronic health record, which can help speed diagnosis and treatment. In our laboratory, full-spin, adjustable chairs enable technicians to draw blood from either arm. Exam rooms are built for greater noise reduction and patient privacy.
“We’ve designed this building with a lot of windows and natural light,” says Barnes. “Our designers paid close attention to creating a comfortable, healing environment for our patients.”
The Garfield Specialty Center is at 5893 Copley Drive, about 8.5 miles from our San Diego Medical Center.
But Kaiser Member Services wrote to me on August 3, 2011 that x-rays taken on June 15, 2011 at the Garfield Specialty Center were not available to my urologist or to Emergency Room doctors because they were saved only on thermal paper! No images at all were available to Emergency Room doctors.
Kaiser wrote:
"Per our records I understand that you spoke with...the X-ray Department on July 11, 2011 where it was explained that the urethra cystogram could not be downloaded to a CD due to it was not digitized. Urethra cystogram was not saved electronically and
we can provide medical record on thermal paper."
(Click on image to enlarge.)
Which is it, Kaiser? Are all x-rays at Garfield Specialty Center digitized, or did Kaiser move some old machines into the new building, and those machines can only save x-rays on thermal paper? Obviously, both claims can not be true.
Kaiser tampered with medical records and created a bizarre series of paper images to hide x-rays. Kaiser was determined to prove that the patient did not have the problem she claimed to have. This plan was written down by the referring doctor in an email to the Department Administrator before the procedure was done. I have written to Dave Horton and Rhianne Steins, who head the Diagnositic Imaging Department, but I've received no response. Chief Financial Officer Lynette Seid was kind enough to respond to me, but she admits she doesn't know much about the issue, and says it will take her two to four weeks to sort it out. And as one can see from the above image, Liza Zinola, Service Area Assistant Administrator for Member Services, is actively supporting the cover-up.
What possessed some Kaiser administrator to plan such an incompetent hoax? I think they are used to having patients who ask no questions.
Here's the Kaiser article:
Garfield Specialty Center in full bloom
Partners in Health e-newsletter
October 2011
If you live near Central San Diego, you’ll be happy to hear that our Garfield Specialty Center is now fully open for business.
Our Garfield Specialty Center “offers a convenient, central location for members to receive same-day surgery and medical care from 58 specialty care providers,” says Mary Ann Barnes, senior vice president and executive director of Kaiser Permanente in San Diego.
(Click on image to enlarge.)
The Ambulatory Surgery Center has four operating suites, six gastrointestinal procedure suites, and pre- and post-operative patient care areas. Other services available include:
orthopedics
podiatry
pain management
plastic surgery
general surgery
head and neck surgery
audiology
gastroenterology
urology
pharmacy
laboratory
radiology
All our X-rays and imaging tests are digital and become part of your electronic health record, which can help speed diagnosis and treatment. In our laboratory, full-spin, adjustable chairs enable technicians to draw blood from either arm. Exam rooms are built for greater noise reduction and patient privacy.
“We’ve designed this building with a lot of windows and natural light,” says Barnes. “Our designers paid close attention to creating a comfortable, healing environment for our patients.”
The Garfield Specialty Center is at 5893 Copley Drive, about 8.5 miles from our San Diego Medical Center.
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