Current info on Kaiser?

[csgray]

I know I have asked about this before, but that was well over a year ago and the situation with medical care changes so much I need to ask some more specific questions. I have a very short window to change providers through my work coming up and we are reevaluating our medical insurance coverage.

Are current patients of the Kaiser branch here in Hilo happy with their care, both in terms of their primary care provider, and in terms of emergency and/or major medical needs that require specialists or hospitalization?

How available is your primary care provider, is it hard to get an appointment? How hard was it to get set up with a PCP when you entered the plan? Did you get any choices, or do you have to take whoever is taking new patients?

Mahalo,

Carol

[JerryCarr]

Carol, I am a satisfied Kaiser member since 2005. My primary care provider, Dr. Hu, is available when I need her, and she also contacts me between annual physicals when new treatments or changes in lab standards come into play that might affect me. One of the things I really like about Kaiser is their integrated medical records data management system. All the records, lab results, specialist consultations, and other information are in one consolidated computer system, so I never have to worry about getting various elements of my history coordinated. (This was a big problem with the Blue Cross based HMO I had in Atlanta.) I have never had a problem getting a specialist consultation when I needed one.

There are some minor downsides, however. Sometimes one has to be assertive to get an appointment right away when something is quite bothersome, but not a big "emergency." I just let the scheduler know if it is a big deal for me, and they always find a way to fit me in. Also, there has been more turnover than usual in the PCPs the past few months. Home Depot and one other major local employer began offering Kaiser this year, and that has made the demand for PCPs go up at a time when some positions were open. They brought some over from Oahu to fill in, which got the new people cared for, but also resulted in many of them getting a new PCP after a fairly short period of time. I heard about this because I have several friends who joined Kaiser when their employer began offering the option. I honestly don't know what the situation is currently regarding choice of PCPs, but you might call Kaiser Hilo and ask.

Kaiser will fly you to their very good Oahu hospital for a lot of things, which is good and bad. It's good because, frankly, the Hilo hospital is not generally rated as highly as Kaiser's Moana Lua facility. It's bad because of the hassle involved and the fact that it is really tough for family members to be on hand if someone is hospitalized that far from home. I have only been to Moana Lua for out-patient procedures, but it was a first rate facility and experience.

Overall, I am very satisfied and recommend Kaiser.

I hope this helps,
Jerry

[csgray]

Thanks Jerry,
My needs are pretty standard for a middle aged person, but my husband has been unable to get some of the medical care he needs under either HMA or HMSA, because the care providers don't want to work with either insurance company, so now our final option is to switch to Kaiser. But once we change we are stuck for a year, so it is a big decision.

We would prefer to work with someone who does internal medicine rather than a family medicine doctor, but Dr. Hu is the only one listed on the Kaiser website and she isn't taking patients.

Carol

[tada]

maybe I'm just in denial but I'm one of the lucky folk who don't the doctor. but one solution might be tort reform?

http://saveourdoctorshawaii.org/

[csgray]

Everybody,
Please do not derail this thread with rants about tort reform! I have a very short window to gather information about my healthcare/insurance options and to make a decision. It is not at all helpful if this goes off into an uninformative tangent about other issues like tort reform. Thank you.

Carol

[Guest]

Carol,

if Dr. Hu is not taking any new patients you can chalk that up in your win win column.

Because of my wife’s very poor health we have been dealing with Kaiser for over fifteen years and have had nothing less then steller professional care, except for Dr. Hu.. She is a Baby Doctor with an indorsement in internal medicine.

When Barbara and I built on this side she was assigned to Dr. Hu. I will not go into details but Barbara was a walking patient when she first meet Dr. Hu [and I use that term Doctor Loosely] one year later Barbara was in a wheel chair. The good Doctor could never find anything wrong with her. After me blowing my cool and finally getting a REAL Doctor [Dr. Jessie Maag] Barbara was finally being treated for her illness. All of what I say can be verbified from a formal complaint that I filled with the Kaiser Foundation. I personally do not belong to Kaiser any longer because I can no longer afford it.

Bottom line Carol, is yes Kaiser is the best you are going to find on this island. I am not slandering Dr. Hu just stating the facts this person is the most incompetent physician I have ever come across. Unfortunately Kaiser is desperate for Doctors and she dose have a degree in medicine.

The Lack

The Lack Toons

[csgray]

Thanks Lack,
From reading between the lines in some of your earlier postings I think your wife and my husband have had some similar health issues. It is scary when your loved one needs help, and the system that is supposed to help hinders instead.

Carol

[kani-lehua]

i think there's a new doc in town: adler might be his name. believe he's internal medicine, but not 100% sure.



"a great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices."

w. james

[Markie]

I go to Dr Hu at Kaiser and like her very much. She has taken good care of me for 9 years. She always asks if there is anything else she can do for me. I hope Rob removes the slanderous posting about her.

Markie

[Kapohocat]

Although I can understand your feeling, Markie, sometimes the perfect physician for one person doesnt work out well for someone else for a variety of reasons. For my father, we had what i felt was a horrible kidney guy. I still do - personally it is still my opinion that his care or lack of it hastened my father's death. Other people think this doctor is fine.

That said, back to the question - Carol - I dont have Kaiser but friends do and they seem happy with Kaiser. (one person said the Kaiser in Hilo was way better than their Kaiser on the mainland.)