Brat
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I think some patients have difficult experiences with HMOs - even PPOs, not just Kaiser. Personally I have never had an issue with Kaiser but I do believe that each patient needs to select their health care providers in any program with care. Rarely is professional competence an issue, more often than not it is personality. Health care is a people profession.
A gal and her family moved into our area so I suggested she look at Kaiser. She came back with an 'oh no' type of response. Since I have gotten to know her better I am confident that both she and Kaiser are happy she didn't sign up.
The life of the son of a friend was saved by a Kaiser physician's diagnostic skills, the kid contracted a fungus in his lungs while in Central America months earlier. He was literally on life's edge when his parents brought him to urgent care. On another occasion a pediatrician seeing a patient in the exam room next to my child called an ambulance for a patient he diagnosed with meningitis - there was no hesitation or request for the parent to transport to a hospital. In that situation, today, the destination hospital would be determined by OHSU's emergency system - he would not necessarily go to a Kaiser Hospital.
There is no 'perfect' health care system.
Another Kaiser story: My OB had a mother who delivered quintuplets in the early 70s. His wife helped the new mother care for the babies. The families bonded so strongly they invited the then elderly OB to live with them after his wife died. They had lots of room in their house as the quints had grown.
A gal and her family moved into our area so I suggested she look at Kaiser. She came back with an 'oh no' type of response. Since I have gotten to know her better I am confident that both she and Kaiser are happy she didn't sign up.
The life of the son of a friend was saved by a Kaiser physician's diagnostic skills, the kid contracted a fungus in his lungs while in Central America months earlier. He was literally on life's edge when his parents brought him to urgent care. On another occasion a pediatrician seeing a patient in the exam room next to my child called an ambulance for a patient he diagnosed with meningitis - there was no hesitation or request for the parent to transport to a hospital. In that situation, today, the destination hospital would be determined by OHSU's emergency system - he would not necessarily go to a Kaiser Hospital.
There is no 'perfect' health care system.
Another Kaiser story: My OB had a mother who delivered quintuplets in the early 70s. His wife helped the new mother care for the babies. The families bonded so strongly they invited the then elderly OB to live with them after his wife died. They had lots of room in their house as the quints had grown.
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