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.
Showing posts with label Garfield Specialty Center. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Garfield Specialty Center. Show all posts
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
How is Kaiser Permanente in San Diego? Lawsuits and investigations
City-Data.com
11-06-2011
thepinksquid Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: San Diego, California
How is Kaiser Permanente in San Diego?
Hello my knowledgeable City-Data friends...
How is Kaiser Permanente care in San Diego? I'm considering changing my health insurance to Kaiser Permanente next year, but I have to admit I'm a little apprehensive as I've never had anything like KP before.
The Kaiser plan I could get through my employer is extremely inexpensive and offers a health reimbursement account, so I'd essentially have no out of pocket costs other than my paycheck deduction (which is very low). Right now I have a Health Net HMO... and it's fine, but unfortunately my doctor is retiring so I have to choose a new one anyhow. I'd love a PPO but the one my employer offers is super $$$. I'm fortunate to not have any major medical issues and my yearly costs are pretty low.
Any thoughts? Are some San Diego Kaiser facilities better than other ones? I live close to the Zion and Vandever hospitals, but would gladly go further for better care. It seems some people LOVE Kaiser, and others love to complain about it.
Is there a reason it's so cheap? Is it better to spend the extra money not go with Kaiser? Thanks!
__________________
Moderator of San Diego, San Jose & San Francisco sub-forums. =]
11-06-2011
AADAD
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Eagle River, Alaska & San Diego, CA
Yes there is a reason. It is at times inferior health care. Kaiser is built on a platform of efficiency first not care. Hats off to the hard working people there but I have had several friends have recent horror stories this year.
As a clinician I would advise you to stay away. As a consumer I can say you get what you pay for.
...I hear this quite a bit also. If you are in good health, KP may be better for you. If you are sick, really ill or really injured in that event KP is last on my list. In addition, they traditionally have much poorer scores for acute inpatient care. The nice(ities) fall off when you are hospitalized. In addition, your access to key clinical doctors is limited by their system. As I said, I have had two friends this year alone who were misdiagnosed (one who did not have stage 4 lung cancer but instead an infection she got while caving hystoplasmosis) after months of telling people she was dying she finally saw another specialist outside the KP system. I also had good experiences with pediatrics for my children. If you get sick, really sick KP is the last place one wants to be IMHO.
Maura Larkins
To find out how Kaiser compares, go to US News and World Report hospital ranking:
http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals
I agree with AADAD that Kaiser is fine when you're healthy or when you have typical, though serious symptoms. You won't find Dr. House at Kaiser. They don't have the time to deal with any symptoms that aren't on their list of things to look for. They have a tendency to miss cancer diagnoses (both my friend and my mother were never seen by a Kaiser oncologist before their deaths from cancer). Most Kaiser facilities have outdated technology. (I see in the rankings in US News (see above) that the Medical Center on Sunset in Los Angeles is an exception.)
Kaiser Permanente Member Services is a joke. They cover-up serious problems. I recently complained that my X-rays taken on June 15, 2011 at the brand-new Garfield Specialty Center in Kearny Mesa were unavailable to my doctors. Member Services told me that the X-rays had not been saved electronically, but that the technician had saved a few X-rays on thermal paper and sent me some blurry photo-copied pages. Yet their advertising says all X-rays at Garfield Specialty Center are digitized! Are they lying to me or are they lying to everybody else???? I put my documents and X-rays on this webpage:
http://mauralarkins.com/kaiserurology.html
I complained to Member Services that the medical report about the X-rays was compromised. Kaiser's story was that the report had not been written by the urologist who had been present on June 15, 2011 and had seen the large series of X-rays as they were being taken, and spoken to me and examined me, but rather that the official report was written 5 days later by a non-urologist who had seen only 5 images on thermal paper! Also, the report had the wrong date of the procedure, the wrong referring doctor, and it was signed three days BEFORE it was supposedly written.
What did Member Services do with my complaint about tampering? They tampered with it! They changed it to say I was unhappy about not getting an anti-fungal medication--from a urologist! I did not want or need an anti-fungal medication; also, it is gynecologists or primary care doctors, not urologists, who deal with yeast infections. Kaiser can't even come up with a clever cover story.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the urology department in San Diego had lower than expected survival rates last year and average survival this year. About half of all hospitals have "better" or "much better" than expected survival rates.
Maura Larkins
Junior Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: San Diego
They're playing the percentages. They take care of the simple cases.
Quote:
(Originally Posted by earlyretirement)
Definitely I think you will find people that are happy with Kaiser and probably will find people that will complain as well. One thing I'll say is that for all of our visits with our doctors, someone from Kaiser followed up with a phone call the next day to see how everything went and even asked if we had any complaints. I've never had an health care insurance provider do something like that before. So definitely I do think they care about customer service and satisfaction.
They're playing the percentages. They take care of the simple cases--and almost all cases are simple. They want to please the majority of their patients. But they make a lot of profit, and they do it by cutting corners and denying care strategically. When they get taken to court, they say that the case was unusual, and they couldn't be expected to know what to do.
AADAD
Making people happy does not make them healthy.
That pleasing the consumer is the trend now in health care to satisfy the consumer irrespective of solving the complex medical problems that they arrive with (on their own). From Scripps to Kaiser and Sharp to UCSD patient satisfaction scores are the goal. To make it worse, Medicare is linking payments to how well patients were "pleased" and satisfied. Nothing in my experience could be more undoing to the goal of sustaining a healthy person.
The steps to take now are to educate yourself and ask questions. Doctors and nurses are trained to solve problems related to our human bodies. We do better when we have a person who tells us about themselves. I cannot even begin to tell you the number of times the patient feeling satisfied gets directly in the way of helping them to be healthy down the road.
Kaiser is known for pleasing it's customer and in serious illness they would rather do that than solve the more complex problems. I concur on the cancer dx issues related in the post above. Kaiser puts it footmark on prevention. Once you are really sick, you would be better off in another hospital system. Stay alert to your bodies changes take notes do research and ask questions because in 5 years the nurse at your bedside will not be interested in asking key questions which would potentially save your life, they will be asking you how you want your coffee.
11-14-2011
tonyinsd
Not to resurrect a dead topic, but here's something that Huffington Post wrote about Kaiser's mental health services.
Kaiser Permanente Makes Billions In Profits While Overburdening Staff: Report
Maura Larkins
Location: San Diego
Why would this be a dead topic? This is fascinating, and seems to reveal that Kaiser is unrepentant about practices in the San Diego Psychiatry Department that led to a lawsuit and investigation in 2000:
Kaiser's Prescribing Policy Leads To Lawsuit, Ethics Concerns
Psychiatric News
May 5, 2000
One of the nation’s best-known HMOs has ignited a furor by requiring psychiatrists at one of its California facilities to write prescriptions for patients they have never seen.
Kaiser Permanente’s policy for psychiatrists in its San Diego area facilities stipulates that when they receive a request for a prescription for a patient that a staff psychologist, social worker, or family therapist is seeing, they are to comply with the request and write the prescription without scheduling a visit with the patient.
Widespread publicity about the policy, which was the focus of an April 13 Los Angeles Times article, has generated heated responses from psychiatrists and others concerned about how such a policy could seriously compromise patient care and put psychiatrists in ethical jeopardy.
The article revealed that a state agency was investigating this practice and that a psychiatrist who lost his job after refusing to follow the policy was suing Kaiser Permanente.
The day after the article appeared, APA issued a press release strongly condemning the policy as an example of "unethical" medical practice....
11-06-2011
thepinksquid Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: San Diego, California
How is Kaiser Permanente in San Diego?
Hello my knowledgeable City-Data friends...
How is Kaiser Permanente care in San Diego? I'm considering changing my health insurance to Kaiser Permanente next year, but I have to admit I'm a little apprehensive as I've never had anything like KP before.
The Kaiser plan I could get through my employer is extremely inexpensive and offers a health reimbursement account, so I'd essentially have no out of pocket costs other than my paycheck deduction (which is very low). Right now I have a Health Net HMO... and it's fine, but unfortunately my doctor is retiring so I have to choose a new one anyhow. I'd love a PPO but the one my employer offers is super $$$. I'm fortunate to not have any major medical issues and my yearly costs are pretty low.
Any thoughts? Are some San Diego Kaiser facilities better than other ones? I live close to the Zion and Vandever hospitals, but would gladly go further for better care. It seems some people LOVE Kaiser, and others love to complain about it.
Is there a reason it's so cheap? Is it better to spend the extra money not go with Kaiser? Thanks!
__________________
Moderator of San Diego, San Jose & San Francisco sub-forums. =]
11-06-2011
AADAD
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Eagle River, Alaska & San Diego, CA
Yes there is a reason. It is at times inferior health care. Kaiser is built on a platform of efficiency first not care. Hats off to the hard working people there but I have had several friends have recent horror stories this year.
As a clinician I would advise you to stay away. As a consumer I can say you get what you pay for.
...I hear this quite a bit also. If you are in good health, KP may be better for you. If you are sick, really ill or really injured in that event KP is last on my list. In addition, they traditionally have much poorer scores for acute inpatient care. The nice(ities) fall off when you are hospitalized. In addition, your access to key clinical doctors is limited by their system. As I said, I have had two friends this year alone who were misdiagnosed (one who did not have stage 4 lung cancer but instead an infection she got while caving hystoplasmosis) after months of telling people she was dying she finally saw another specialist outside the KP system. I also had good experiences with pediatrics for my children. If you get sick, really sick KP is the last place one wants to be IMHO.
Maura Larkins
To find out how Kaiser compares, go to US News and World Report hospital ranking:
http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals
I agree with AADAD that Kaiser is fine when you're healthy or when you have typical, though serious symptoms. You won't find Dr. House at Kaiser. They don't have the time to deal with any symptoms that aren't on their list of things to look for. They have a tendency to miss cancer diagnoses (both my friend and my mother were never seen by a Kaiser oncologist before their deaths from cancer). Most Kaiser facilities have outdated technology. (I see in the rankings in US News (see above) that the Medical Center on Sunset in Los Angeles is an exception.)
Kaiser Permanente Member Services is a joke. They cover-up serious problems. I recently complained that my X-rays taken on June 15, 2011 at the brand-new Garfield Specialty Center in Kearny Mesa were unavailable to my doctors. Member Services told me that the X-rays had not been saved electronically, but that the technician had saved a few X-rays on thermal paper and sent me some blurry photo-copied pages. Yet their advertising says all X-rays at Garfield Specialty Center are digitized! Are they lying to me or are they lying to everybody else???? I put my documents and X-rays on this webpage:
http://mauralarkins.com/kaiserurology.html
I complained to Member Services that the medical report about the X-rays was compromised. Kaiser's story was that the report had not been written by the urologist who had been present on June 15, 2011 and had seen the large series of X-rays as they were being taken, and spoken to me and examined me, but rather that the official report was written 5 days later by a non-urologist who had seen only 5 images on thermal paper! Also, the report had the wrong date of the procedure, the wrong referring doctor, and it was signed three days BEFORE it was supposedly written.
What did Member Services do with my complaint about tampering? They tampered with it! They changed it to say I was unhappy about not getting an anti-fungal medication--from a urologist! I did not want or need an anti-fungal medication; also, it is gynecologists or primary care doctors, not urologists, who deal with yeast infections. Kaiser can't even come up with a clever cover story.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the urology department in San Diego had lower than expected survival rates last year and average survival this year. About half of all hospitals have "better" or "much better" than expected survival rates.
Maura Larkins
Junior Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: San Diego
They're playing the percentages. They take care of the simple cases.
Quote:
(Originally Posted by earlyretirement)
Definitely I think you will find people that are happy with Kaiser and probably will find people that will complain as well. One thing I'll say is that for all of our visits with our doctors, someone from Kaiser followed up with a phone call the next day to see how everything went and even asked if we had any complaints. I've never had an health care insurance provider do something like that before. So definitely I do think they care about customer service and satisfaction.
They're playing the percentages. They take care of the simple cases--and almost all cases are simple. They want to please the majority of their patients. But they make a lot of profit, and they do it by cutting corners and denying care strategically. When they get taken to court, they say that the case was unusual, and they couldn't be expected to know what to do.
AADAD
Making people happy does not make them healthy.
That pleasing the consumer is the trend now in health care to satisfy the consumer irrespective of solving the complex medical problems that they arrive with (on their own). From Scripps to Kaiser and Sharp to UCSD patient satisfaction scores are the goal. To make it worse, Medicare is linking payments to how well patients were "pleased" and satisfied. Nothing in my experience could be more undoing to the goal of sustaining a healthy person.
The steps to take now are to educate yourself and ask questions. Doctors and nurses are trained to solve problems related to our human bodies. We do better when we have a person who tells us about themselves. I cannot even begin to tell you the number of times the patient feeling satisfied gets directly in the way of helping them to be healthy down the road.
Kaiser is known for pleasing it's customer and in serious illness they would rather do that than solve the more complex problems. I concur on the cancer dx issues related in the post above. Kaiser puts it footmark on prevention. Once you are really sick, you would be better off in another hospital system. Stay alert to your bodies changes take notes do research and ask questions because in 5 years the nurse at your bedside will not be interested in asking key questions which would potentially save your life, they will be asking you how you want your coffee.
11-14-2011
tonyinsd
Not to resurrect a dead topic, but here's something that Huffington Post wrote about Kaiser's mental health services.
Kaiser Permanente Makes Billions In Profits While Overburdening Staff: Report
Maura Larkins
Location: San Diego
Why would this be a dead topic? This is fascinating, and seems to reveal that Kaiser is unrepentant about practices in the San Diego Psychiatry Department that led to a lawsuit and investigation in 2000:
Kaiser's Prescribing Policy Leads To Lawsuit, Ethics Concerns
Psychiatric News
May 5, 2000
One of the nation’s best-known HMOs has ignited a furor by requiring psychiatrists at one of its California facilities to write prescriptions for patients they have never seen.
Kaiser Permanente’s policy for psychiatrists in its San Diego area facilities stipulates that when they receive a request for a prescription for a patient that a staff psychologist, social worker, or family therapist is seeing, they are to comply with the request and write the prescription without scheduling a visit with the patient.
Widespread publicity about the policy, which was the focus of an April 13 Los Angeles Times article, has generated heated responses from psychiatrists and others concerned about how such a policy could seriously compromise patient care and put psychiatrists in ethical jeopardy.
The article revealed that a state agency was investigating this practice and that a psychiatrist who lost his job after refusing to follow the policy was suing Kaiser Permanente.
The day after the article appeared, APA issued a press release strongly condemning the policy as an example of "unethical" medical practice....
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.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Kaiser specialty services coming to northern Douglas County
We can only hope that Kaiser doesn't bring outdated x-ray equipment into the new center as it has admitted doing in San Diego's brand new Garfield Specialty Center.
Kaiser specialty services coming to northern Douglas County
Ceremony marks start of work on 275,000 square-foot building
September 19, 2011
By Chris Michlewicz
Lone Tree Voice-News
The opening of a new Kaiser Permanente facility near Lone Tree will broaden specialty services and bring medical care closer to thousands of patients...
Kaiser specialty services coming to northern Douglas County
Ceremony marks start of work on 275,000 square-foot building
September 19, 2011
By Chris Michlewicz
Lone Tree Voice-News
The opening of a new Kaiser Permanente facility near Lone Tree will broaden specialty services and bring medical care closer to thousands of patients...
Friday, July 8, 2011
Medical technology at Kaiser Permanente
Link: x-rays saved only on thermal paper at new Kaiser Garfield Specialty Center in San Diego
Invasive cancer urinary Tests can have little diagnostic value, Kaiser Permanente study warns
Hematuria, or blood in the urine can trigger a battery of urinary tests for cancer are invasive and unnecessarily expose patients to radiation, but the procedures contribute little to the diagnosis, according to a study conducted byhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif Department of research & evaluation of the Kaiser Permanente Southern California published in May the issue of the Journal of Urology...
VCUG is a common x-ray that shows the bladder and lower urinary tract. Using motion x-ray called fluoroscopy, the radiologist is able to view and assess the function of the bladder and urinary tract, watching as the bladder is filled and emptied with a water-based contrast solution.
Urol Radiol. 1992;14(1):56-8.
Digital radiography in urologic imaging: radiation dose reduction on urethrocystography.
Digital luminescent radiography (DLR) is a new form of digital radiographic technology which can be used as an alternative to conventional radiologic systems; it replaces conventional screen-film systems by photostimulable phosphorus. Due to the linear dynamic range of photostimulable phosphorus, x-ray examinations can be performed with significantly lower radiation exposure. In this study radiation dose was reduced by about 90% using DLR for urethrocystography.
Invasive cancer urinary Tests can have little diagnostic value, Kaiser Permanente study warns
Hematuria, or blood in the urine can trigger a battery of urinary tests for cancer are invasive and unnecessarily expose patients to radiation, but the procedures contribute little to the diagnosis, according to a study conducted byhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif Department of research & evaluation of the Kaiser Permanente Southern California published in May the issue of the Journal of Urology...
VCUG is a common x-ray that shows the bladder and lower urinary tract. Using motion x-ray called fluoroscopy, the radiologist is able to view and assess the function of the bladder and urinary tract, watching as the bladder is filled and emptied with a water-based contrast solution.
Urol Radiol. 1992;14(1):56-8.
Digital radiography in urologic imaging: radiation dose reduction on urethrocystography.
Digital luminescent radiography (DLR) is a new form of digital radiographic technology which can be used as an alternative to conventional radiologic systems; it replaces conventional screen-film systems by photostimulable phosphorus. Due to the linear dynamic range of photostimulable phosphorus, x-ray examinations can be performed with significantly lower radiation exposure. In this study radiation dose was reduced by about 90% using DLR for urethrocystography.
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