Kaiser Permanente Medical Center San Francisco

I’m sorry to see that others have had poor experiences with Kaiser, as I am very happy with their services. My primary care physician, Dr. Melody Lee, is wonderful. She’s attentive, listens carefully, and responds to any concerns I have. My cardiologist, Dr. Garrett, is also very caring and thorough, I have the positive feeling that both of my main physicians see me as a whole person instead of just a patient. I’ve found Kaiser to be very generous in allowing me to consult with various specialists as needed, and in referring me for testing on request (as when I’m concerned about my cholesterol level and want to check it out). I love it that I can email my doctor and get answers to simple questions — and even prescriptions if appropriate. I love it that my test results are usually online the day I’ve been to the lab and that I can see a graph or chart of my history over the eight or ten years I’ve been with Kaiser. Last week my doctor ordered X-​rays of my hands because of arthritis pain. I parked across the street from the facility and put 45 minutes on the meter. I walked two blocks to get in and went straight to radiology — they saw me right away, did the x-​rays and I was back at my car, which still had 28 minutes on the meter. My visit took 17 minutes! That’s not a typical experience — I usually have to wait at least a little while (but often I’m taken in right away), — I do agree that the pharmacy is awful — it’s badly run and almost always has a line out the door. Another reviewer mentioned having to wait in a long line for pain medication and I’ve had the same negative experience there I try to use the O’Farrell street pharmacy when I can but mostly order prescriptions by mail, which is quick and easy. The lab is another weak point — always crowded with significant waits. The pharmacy and lab are the reasons I gave four stars instead of five — but overall I’m very pleased with Kaiser.

… several years ago it was much easier to deal with all I needed was a form signed by the doctor to submit to my employer now it’s becoming a nightmare Kaiser hospital in San Francisco is the worst facility to deal with Kaiser Permanente organization in general. I have been trying to get a particular type of documentation that’s required from my other employer to take care of family member. It’s not like I’m asking for any handouts or money or anything because I have sufficient time I could use. The doctor and the medical correspondence departments don’t have a clue as far as paperwork and is giving me the runaround that I am beyond myself. it shouldn’t be that difficult to get a document that I could use for my employer

I’ve been a Kaiser member for more than 30 years – both in SF and Oakland (for the last twelve years). In my family we have had four cancers, one hospice, two childbirths, psychiatric care, educational classes, counseling and just about everything else.
We have received excellent care and Kaiser has been accessible by phone and email. The doctors have been great, and it is awesome that no matter what you have, there is a team of doctors behind you. They confer and work together if appropriate. My newest doctor had no problem consulting a more experienced doctor.
And the website is awesome. You can email any of your doctors and receive a response in one day, make appointments, order meds for pick-​up or home delivery. The website explains your meds, shows you your test results (like your cholesterol numbers over time). There’s an advice nurse ²⁴⁄₇ (you do have to wait a bit for that unless you call at night).

WORST customer service experience ever. Basically total and callous negligence. On the surface, Kaiser seems to be all about improving customer service and the actual medical care I have received there has been fine. However, as I am quickly learning it’s a total black hole wasteland of service involving many, many hours waiting on the phone over several months time with STILL NO RESOLUTION when something actually needs to be fixed, even when it’s Kaiser’s fault.
Here’s the story:
My infant son was born at Kaiser hospital in October 2012 (right before Obamacare took hold). While in the hospital, we were given the paperwork to sign him up for medical coverage at my hospital bedside. No one there could answer any of our questions or give us any information about plan options or costs, telling us that they ‘don“t do that part’ and that we could contact member services later to discover what we had just signed up for. (Nice thing to do to a woman who has just gone through a 27 hour labor, right?!)
My husband did call several times after we were home with our son (healthy & with no medical issues, thank god) and no one in member services seemed to have any idea what we had signed up for either. We never received a packet with plan information or anything, just a bill when my son was 2 months old and had been in for his standard 15 minute well baby checks.
$ 730/​mnth apparently with chiropractic services included (for a 2 month old?!)
This seemed completely outrageous for a perfectly healthy infant who just needs standard well baby checks and is also more than we can afford. To charge us this amount without ever giving us any information on our plan or the cost while I was still groggy in my hospital bed and my son just a day old frankly seemed like callous profiteering.
We called to complain as well as to get some information on this outrageously expensive plan and, after many, many hours on hold and talking to people who seemed to have no clue as to the terms of our plan or how to help us, were finally told by a manager that our only option would be to retroactively cancel this plan, pay the up front costs of whatever a 15 minute well baby check appointment is, and re-​sign up under Obmacare with our monthly costs being a little over $ 200/​mnth.
At a Kaiser’s manager (someone named Katina – WORST ever) suggestion we did just this, including paying our bill every month for this new plan that we chose.
And then we got a call right before our babies next well baby check telling us that he did not have coverage (although the billing department seemed to have different ideas as they were still charging us every month for his coverage under my plan.) Aghast, we took him in for his appointment anyways because he IS AN INFANT FOR GOD’S SAKE and unlike Kasier we are not about to play around with our son’s health because of incompetence and greed. The receptionist in pediatrics assured us that this sort of thing ‘happens all the time’ and gave us another customer service number.
I’ve now called that number several times and each time I do call I end up on the phone for at least an hour only to talk to someone who seems to have no idea what I am talking about and no power to help me. (Believe, with a baby at home my time could be spent in better ways.) The manager who initially recommended that we take this plan of action has refused to help us, talk to us or take any responsibility in this matter at all. Apparently Kaiser and Kaiser member services don’t talk at all as one keeps charging us and one denies we have coverage for what we are paying. (and some unknown entity just signed him up for Delta Dental according to some paperwork that just arrived in the mail. Should be helpful once he has some teeth!!!) One member service representative told my husband the money we were paying each month for his plan was going to some old cancelled plan of mine.
Cause right… that makes sense. We just feel like paying for an old, expired plan and Kaiser feels like taking the money each month.
We just received a bill for $ 1,100 for one round of immunization shots our son had during his last appointment when we were paying for his coverage that he ‘didn’t have.‘
Criminal. At this point I have spent so much time on the phone with them and have received so little help that we are considering calling a lawyer. This is coverage for a baby for god’s sake. Get it together Kaiser.
There is no excuse.

Last year I had KP insurance.
I hate KP insurance. Worst customer service EVER. WORST experience ever in general.
Please. Please. Please. Don’t go through the same thing I did.

The WORST of the worst. A huge bureaucracy of dismissive lowlifes who don;t know the first thing about health care or customer service.
I have lived in the UK with government run health care. It was less than stellar. And I would choose that any day over Kaiser.
Trust me, it is not by choice I am with Kaiser.
Any employer looking to cut costs by choosing Kaiser for their health care should be ASHAMED.

I wish I could review Kaiser’s health care. Unfortunately I can’t. Here’s why. I applied for Kaiser coverage on-​line on September 12^th. The web site says that if you apply by the 23^rd of the month you’ll be eligible for coverage on the 1^st of the following month.
I got an automated email thanking me for applying. Then I got two applications in the mail — even though I had already applied. A nd I got emails from two Kaiser reps inviting me to apply.
Weeks went by, no further contact from Kaiser. So I email one of the people back to enquire, and she says to call an 800 number to see the status of my application. I enter my social security number on my key pad and the voice says they have no record of my application. So then I speak to a real person who manages to find my application. This is September 29^th. She says that the office handling northern California is at that time working on applications submitted on August 25^th. FIVE WEEKS LATER. So basically my application submitted on September 12^th should be looked at in a week or two?
I called again tonight after hours and still, when I entered my social, the system has no record of my application.
This does not bode well for the kind of treatment I’ll receive if I’m ever approved.
Meanwhile, I’m putting off having a mammogram and pap smear elsewhere, because god forbid I should have anything wrong with me, I would be rejected by Kaiser for a pre-​existing condition.
Feels like flying TOTALLY without a net.
And this coverage? $ 270 a month with a $ 2700 a year deductible. So I have to spend about $ 6000 a year before I actually get any coverage. And an insurance agent told me the coverage I chose can actually skyrocket — it’s like a promotional rate.
I hate insurance. I hate the whole concept of insurance. It’s like I’m betting I’ll get sick or die, and they’re betting I won’t. WTF?
10÷17÷08 edited to add I got my membership in the mail yesterday. Telling me I was covered as of October 1^st. How the F**K am I supposed to know that? So I have to pay my premium back to October 1^st when I didn’t even know I was covered for 16 days?

My trip to the allergist:
Doc: So I’m looking at your test results and it seems like you’re allergic to a lot of tree pollens.
Me: Yeah, lately my eyes have just been killing me. I can’t work because they’re so puffy it’s impossible to look at the computer.
Doc: Yeah well May is the peak of two pollen seasons, and it looks like you’re allergic to both types.
Me: Well what should I do?
Doc: Have you considered avoiding the pollen?
Me: Um…
Doc: I think maybe you should try to stay indoors more.
And with that sage like advice Dr. Svetlana Kzvergiensky proceeded to pull out her proverbial nutsack and place her balls squarely upon Michael Moore’s various chins.

A few months ago, I switched to Kaiser — or rather, my employer switched me over to Kaiser.
I have been repeatedly trying to schedule a physical on their website, only to confront this message:
«We’re sorry, but no more appointments are available. Would you like to see if other times have become available? Search for other appointment times or call the appointment center. Please call the appointment center at 415−833−2200 or send us an appointment request form to schedule an appointment.»
I searched for every appointment time possible and yet got this message again. I thought, «ok…computer glitch. I’ll call instead.»
After being put on hold for 20 mins, I was the receptionist confirmed that no appointments were available. I’m just flabbergasted. I mean, no appointments at all? For the entire foreseeable future? How can that be possible???
Then I asked if this was a common phenomenon. The receptionist’s answer?
«Very.»

Help! I was recently denied access to Kaiser’s individual and families plan because, as their letter put it, I had «sought non-​pregnancy related medical attention more than three times in the last 12 months»; in other words, they seem to have an exclusionary policy that not only screens out pre-​existing conditions, but penalizes members for simply using their healthcare plan more than three times a year. Can you believe it? I’m gathering stories about similar experiences (either at Kaiser or other HMOs which may have similar policies), please get in touch if you have one. Seems pretty scandalous to me. Thanks for your input.

Thanks to this place, I still have no idea what’s wrong with me. That costs extra…

After 100+ years of Kaiser experience (really) I have no problem four-​starring the place.
I was a member of Southern California Kaiser, together with my parents and brothers, from early childhood through my last year of high school. After a break of 17 years joined again five years ago, this time in San Francisco and with my wife. My parents have been members since the early 1970’s. Added up its better than 100 years of immediate family experience.
As a family we’ve reasonably healthy, though experienced our share of sickness and emergency room visits On the fun to no-​fun scale, walking through plate glass windows, tumbling from 2^nd story window, breaking your back slipping on concrete, and suffering a range of issues normally associated with old age are all on the no-​fun side. But as a family we’ve experienced each (and many other great hits over the years) with Kaiser
— Never, ever have I seen a hint that Kaiser rations care. Every time we’ve had a real need Kaiser has produced the appropriate services and specialists, although on one or two occasions (both in Southern California, not the more highly rated Northern California operation) it has taken a little longer or required more pushing then we would have liked. And when in doubt, Kaiser has always erred on the side of more tests, treatment and observation.
— Quality of medical personal has been generally excellent. There have been a few bad physicians (one ER doc, a moonlighting navy physician, didn’t follow protocol when dealing with a cat bite even after my mother warned him he was not treating it properly, and sure enough it got massively infected; a GP unreasonably slow to make referrals) but in both cases it was possible to work through the system and get the problem solved
— Kaiser has the people, scale and information management ability to be a «medical home.» Every provider can instantly see your full medical records, including labs, x-​rays and prescriptions, something that could never happen with the patchwork that comes with using a bunch of randomly chosen specialists in different practices.
— X-​rays and other images can be zapped around Kaiser’s huge network to the first available radiologist, they have specialized clinics for everything from wounds to spinal fusion. Labs and pharmacies are on-​site and quick.
Consumer Reports did a great piece on the various insurance plans around, looked at both HMO and PPO options. You can see a big chunk of it without a subscription here
It ranked Northern Kaiser as the number five HMO in the nation.
Costs:
To give you a quick idea, a couple in their 30s paying for Kaiser themselves would have four options, ranging from a $ 240/​month for a plan with a $ 1500 annual deductible, to $ 474/​month for a plan with no deductible and a $ 25 co-​pay for all visits. Dental insurance is also available for a small additional amount. To see costs and plan descriptions

Kaiser isn’t perfect, as a number of reviewers here point out, and like any other large organization you need to make an effort to get the best out of it.
If money is no object and you really worry about your health a concierge medical practice
(New York Times, free registration required) may be the way to go.
But for most of us, Kaiser represents very good to excellent medical care at a reasonable price.

Such a suck hole of high administrative salaries and mediocre patient care from the cost containment programs instigated by the six figure salaried middle managers. Social medicine should really compete with this system, but a malaise sets in any huge bureaucracy.
Only works if you find a specifically great physician, nurse practitioner or you just are healthy and do NOT really need a medical service.
Prescriptions dispensed on Divisadero Street are faster than Geary Boulevard nightmare wait of one hour!!!
Oh well, maybe that is why it is a misnomer to call the a working HMO
(Hell Maintenance Organization). Yes, the DEVIL is in the DETAILS, hail Kaiser. Started out as a good company health coverage concept for Kaiser steelworkers in the 1950s, but really, do you want to keep that natural gait or walk the Kaiser limp from the cheapest treatment. Sorry. Some practitioners are good at Kaiser, Some are just constrained by upper management, ya know!!!
SOMETHING Financial:
HMO giant Kaiser Permanente could lose as much $ 7 billion over the next two years if its operating expenses continue to rise at the current rate, according to internal projections made earlier this year.
Kaiser’s operating costs are increasing 10 percent a year while revenue sources such as Medicare are decreasing, Chief Executive Officer George Halvorson said in an interview. Calling the projected losses unacceptable, he said Kaiser could earn about $ 2 billion a year if the health maintenance organization can hold expense increases to about 5 percent.
Kaiser’s loss projections came to light after an employee sent an e-​mail to 180,000 employees on Friday. In the e-​mail, Justen Deal, a project supervisor who has worked for the company for two years, detailed his frustration with Kaiser’s electronic health record system, which he considers inefficient and unreliable.
Deal was placed on administrative leave Monday.
«What I’m doing is working to ensure the waste and abuse stops,» said Deal, who lives in Los Angeles. «That’s not something you get fired for.»
Halvorson described the memo — sent to virtually all Kaiser employee e-​mail addresses — as alarmist and inaccurate.
«He has bits and pieces of information and has managed to construct a theory … but what he doesn’t have is any of the subsequent data about what we’re doing to manage those costs,» Halvorson said.
Kaiser has already started cutting costs, he said. Some departments have hiring freezes while others are evaluating staffing levels. Some layoffs may be necessary, but cutbacks will not affect patient care, Halvorson said.
Kaiser faces the same cost pressures as other health care providers, such as higher labor costs and outlays for new technology. Health care providers must find ways to reduce expenses rather than continuing to increase premiums for consumers, Halvorson said.
Kaiser posted a $ 211 million loss for the fourth quarter of 2005, its first red ink in about three years. The HMO attributed the loss to increased spending on capital projects, such as technology and seismic retrofitting projects, and greater hospital use.
In its most-​recent report, Kaiser said its second-​quarter net income dropped about 25 percent from the same quarter a year earlier. Third-​quarter results are expected to be released today.
Fitch Ratings, which follows Kaiser’s debt securities, said
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had trained in KAISER Permanente as an intern:
«Dr. Tony Shiu «Nov. 7, 2006 compromising photos and two date rapes of MEN.
Dr. Tony Shiu, who later ran a private practice in Dublin, is being sought on a $ 1 million warrant. He disappeared after the warrant was issued early last month, and police believe he has left the Bay Area.
The doctor allegedly drugged two men at his Dublin residence in August and then raped one of them, Dublin police Sgt. Herb Walters said. Police obtained search warrants for Shiu’s home and found digital photos of the 19 men who were in examination rooms, believed to be at Shiu’s clinic and possibly another location, Walters said.
Two of the men have been positively identified.
«You can imagine how shocked they were when we showed them naked pictures of themselves,» Walters said.
No other alleged victims have come forward, he said.
Police are asking anyone with information to call (925) 833‑6682.

I had heard awful things about Kaiser – unresponsive doctors, long waits, poor customer service. But when I started a new job and found that Kaiser was my most cost-​efficient health insurance option, I sucked it up and signed on. So far, it seems decent. I’ve been twice (once to get a prescription for pills, and once because I hurt my ankle) and both times the doctors were timely (no long wait!), friendly and willing to sit down and answer any questions I had. Appointments seem pretty easy to score, the parking underneath the main building is fairly cheap and prescriptions are easy to refill. But after reading all of the negative reviews posted here, I’m hoping I won’t have to take care of any major medical procedures while with Kaiser.

I have to say that depending on the exact location, your treatment may vary. But, I have been a Kaiser patient for at least 8 years and overall I am happy with it. I had socal Kaiser for awhile and have had norcal for the last few years. I tried Blue Shield in btwn and they were horrific. I actually had a minor operation with a Kaiser surgeon and it went very well. I like that all the facilities are in one locale — pharmacy, x-​rays, etc… so you don’t have to go all over the place just to get your blood drawn.

Great place, the service is great and has been ranked the 4^th best HMO in the country. It is cost effective so unless you want to go out and dish out thousands in paying for care yourself I would say this is definately your best bang for the buck. As the lady who was misdiagnosed. That sucks. But mistakes happen everywhere.

To all those deciding upon benefits… PLEASE avoid Kaiser Permanente, which is likely to leave you annoyed permanente. I was misdiagnosed with a hole in my ear drum, which has basically caused a year and a half of permanente poo! I had to recieve emergency care while home for Thanksgiving for a ridiculously infected and pressurized ear (sans hole) and they refuse to cover it! What was I supposed to do… deal with another painful flight?!? Let’s this be a lesson to all… Kaiser permanente = the enemy.