Kaiser Permanente – Page 6

Sometime back I went to see urologists in Panorama City for my varicocele vein problem named the doctors name was Dr Rude Arrogance and was treated rudely by him. I went to see him because I was referred there by the ER for this varicosele vein problem which I still have. While in the room I was talked to with much disrespect and arrogance in a belittling fashion. While during my office visit he left the room for a short while gave me time to think about my bad treatment from him. When he came back I let him have it not accepting his rude treatment of me. After some words finally calmed down and apologized only then was he nice to me and more respectful. He only told me to take the ibupropen that he prescribed and to take warm baths which really didnt help and the pain med he gave me caused a problem for my liver.

Time goes on and my syptoms get worse and more pain and discomfort. So I make appointment with a new urologist not wanting to deal with the guy that was rude to me again. This time I get Dr Bad-Attitude. I get to see him wednesday morning at 7am 01-18-2017. He comes in the room and also starts talking to me in an unfriendly manner. He starts in by saying what are you here for and then he said sarcastically oh you are here for a second opinion. I came to get help not for a second opinion !

He examines me then talk about my symptoms. He then says excuse me and leaves my room for almost 10 minutes. This is where I think he goes and talk to Dr Rude Arrogance and asks questions about me that I am sure of. Of courese Dr Rude Arrogance is not going to say anything good about me because he and I had problems. So when Dr Bad Attitude comes back in the room his attitude is worse than before towards me.

He proceeds to tell me that I see you have been to the ER many times in tha past year and a half and most of your issues are pain related. I am no dummie and I know that he was incinuationg that maybe some of my issues are psychological. The reason i go to the ER is because the walk in clinic is not that good and many times I cannot even get in to see my primary thats why I went to the ER those times. The times I went to the ER also it was after hours or in the middle of the night or on the weekend when my problems happened. And I can assure you that all that is wrong in my body is real and not in my mind, check my records.

Now he then proceeds to tell me that he will not authorize any surgery for the varicosele vein problem just treat it with pain meds and take warm baths. He said that many surgeries do not work and make matters only worse. He also said do not do the surgery for the small hernia that I have. He then said to me oh and another reason I will not authorize the surgery is because if it does not work you will sue us for malpractice and we dont want that at all.

This guy blindsisded me with all this . It happened so fast that I did not have time to react the correct way to him. I just kind of agreed with him and said well then I wont get any surgeries. Meanwhile this pain I keep having is intense and increasing. What is wrong with the Urology dept that you have such rude and condescening doctors working in there that think they can be rude to the patients and accuse them of maybe going to sue Kaiser ?!? Never in my life have I been treated with such disrespect and rudeness. I have rights a patient to be treated fairly with courtesy and respect and compassion. There is no reason any patient who is sick should have to come to their Healthcare Organization and get treated with abuse.

So here I sit now at home writing this complaint and am still in pain and nothing was done about my problems. Am waiting to see the Urology department now in Woodland Hills but to be honest I have lost my of my faith in Kaiser to help me with any of my health issues. It rather funny they are all getting paid to do their job correctly but that is not happening. And they also forget that without their patients no money would be coming in that allows them to get their paychecks ! I filed a grievance at Member Services dept but to this date nothing seems to have been done. No letter sent to me m. like they said they would telling of the progress of my claim.

I also was told by another Kaiser employee that they keep records on the patients file and a rating of good, bad or complains a lot is right there on the computer screen for everyone to see. So as soon as you go to the doctor or the ER thats the first thing they do is pull up your computer file and look at it. So is not a wonder that after the doctors or nurses read that, that probably is why they treat the patient in a poor unprofessional manner. I can tell you one thing, I will NEVER go to the Urology dept in Panorama City ever again !

With this varicocele vein problem it allows blood to leak out and pool in that area and it becomes toxic. I am not sure but if that toxic blood somehow gets back into my bloodstream this alone could be very dangerous for my health. So I just sit at home and wait in all this pain and discomfort. Something could have been done about this many many weeks ago but was not.

Now when I contact member Services about the progress of my case complaint I get emails like this :

Hello James,
Thank you for your message to the website.
Please accept our apologies as we here in Member Services do not have
access to your complaint. We can only direct you to the assigned case
manager Rosana "Doesnt Care". Please contact your case manager at (909)
367-**** for further assistance in regards to the status of your
grievance filed on 1/23/17. Once your concerns are assigned, it is
solely the responsibility of the case manager that is assigned your
concerns to communicate any and all progress to you.

Thank you for being a valued member of Kaiser Permanente.
=====================================================================
Apparently this assigned case handler is doing nothing as I just sit at home and wait as my condition and pain gets worse. Her name is : Rosana "Doesnt Care" ( assigned case
manager ). Ignoring me about all this is not going to make me go away.
===============================================================================
I received another call from someone else in Member Services wanting to talk to me about this complaint. So after a week or more I finally call this person back. We discuss my claim and she said that 2 letters regarding this were sent to me. That is not true I never received one at all. I asked what the letters were about she said they say that concluded that the case is closed. Closed ? How can my case be closed when nothing was done. So I also asked her about Kaiser putting it on our computer records file that we have complained. I told her that 2 kaiser employees told me this and this lady said they were lying lol. I said those employees have no reason to lie in my opinion it is Kaiser that is doing the lying. So to conclude my story nothing is being done about my complaint. Here I sit at home in more pain and discomfort while Kaiser laughs all the way to the bank. She did say that I can still go out to Woodland Hills Urology to be checked but I dont know anymore I have pretty lost faith is Kaiser to do anything at all for me because all my health issues that I have never get properly addressed. Live well and Thrive they say, what a joke !

Wife had extreme abdominal pains... Made appt with kaiser doctor in pleasanton at 2:30pm. came in, paid the damn co-payment... Then doctor prescribed her something temp, for the pain. Made her take blood work and prescribed medication for her and released her. wife still had pain an hour later... And the prescribed medication was not for pain but acid reflux!? Smdh. she does not have acid reflux? Wife in more serious pain. had to go back to kaiser this time to emergency, half hour away in walnut creek because of poor a diagnose of a patient (My wife) from a rushing unconcerned doctor! in pain, my wife ask for something to ease pain in the walnut creek e. R because it's just unbareable. nurse just sat her in a chair in triosh. Unattended. wife screams in agony of pain, since not being attended. She wants to leave, and nurse supervisor (Adrian) states"if you need to leave, sorry we couldn't help you". So this will be report and filed! Horrible patient services.

In 2002 (15 years ago) after many medication trials and errors, my pain management doctor put me on a medication that allowed me to have less pain and live a somewhat normal life.

In 2015 I lost my medication, call my doctor and explained that I had lost them, then the next day I found my meds but the damage was done.

My doctor wrote up a summary on my chart saying that I abuse the substance AND NOW I can not get the only medication I have found that helps me.

I have tried Member Services to no avail.

What do I do?
Can I go outside Kaiser and get them to pay?

I used to be with Kaiser a number of years ago and reluctantly returned to save money because of my son's college expenses. How do you run such a large business and only have the pharmacy open until 5:30 p.m. or you have to drive 25 miles away to the other pharmacy that is open until 7:00 p.m. AND, both are not open on weekends? If you need to fill on a weekend you have to pay full price at another pharmacy and then submit a claim?! Additionally, twice now I have called in my prescription and rushed to get their before they closed to arrive and find out they aren't ready! Not to mention, I have to pay a co-pay to my primary to get a referral to a specialist that takes weeks to happen. Then pay another co-pay to the specialist. As soon as I can budget in the difference for a different plan, I will switch and NEVER return to Kaiser. Twice with this plan and completely disappointed. Keep in mind, we are a healthy family and don't go to the doctor other than routine visits. This business still lacks the quality it should have regardless of their years in business.

On [protected] . My patient number is [protected]. I was scheduled for an endoscopy as a result of a recent allergic reaction in my esophogus and I requested that a voluntary colonoscopy be done at the same time. I was scheduled with Dr. Mamie Huang Dong, MD at the Otay Lakes, CA specialty center, Department of Gastronomy. Prior to the procedure, I was extremely anxious and afraid. I mentioned that I was very nervous and afraid to the nurses, the doctor and the anesthesiologist the day of the procedure and they said they would do everything they could to make me confortable. I suffer from accute asthma and anxiety and explained this to them as well, indicating that even the placement of the mouth guard will freak me out. They said it was necessary because they couldn't place it property if I was not awake. The mouth guard was placed and I felt something go into my IV. The next things that happened were horrific and in my opinion, dangerous to the patient: I felt the scope going down my throat and I gagged then I felt the scope moving around in my throat. This was not comfortable. Soon I felt a sharp pain in my esophogus and I tried to scream but couldn't because of the mouth guard. I tried to pull out the mouth guard. They held me down and told me not to move that I can't pull that out. They removed it and began the colonoscopy which I felt as well. I feel that I was not treated with the proper amount of sedation for this type of double procedure. I have pain in my esophogus as a result the next day and am taking pain medication. This was not only a painful experience that I felt was completely unnecessary and could have been remedies with proper sedation, but it is a traumatic experience as well. I will never recommend this Kaiser facility nor Dr. Dong.

I took my son to our pediatrician today for the 4-month visit, and our visit experience was horrible. Here were what happened, our appointment was 9:15 am and we arrived to the department before that time and used the Self Service Kiosk. However, it was not successful because we had to check-in in person. Yet, no staff was here to manually check in at the pediatric department, so we went back to the family doctor department to check in, and there was a long line of people. We waited until 9:24 am to check in.

1. We waited for about 1 hour with our son, 4 month old an infant. This doesn't seem usual at all.
2. There was no one to help us to check in at the pediatric department at all.
3. I had to ask another nurse regarding to what might be going on with my appointment and asking for our nurse Brianne N Jaynes. And the nurse was kind and helpful, saying to inform our nurse. However, when she walked out to call another patient of hers, she was shocked to see us still waiting outside. She immediately let me in and seek for another nurse to help out. On my way out, we ran into our nurse miss Jaynes. When she was informed we waited outside for so long, her first response was accussing us being late for our appointment for 9 minutes, and she let other patients to see our doctor first. However, she never attempted to inform us the situation was changed, and after she saw we checked in on the system, she didn't try to come out and let us go for next.
3. We were helped indeed by another nurse, who guided us to exam room for my son weight and height measurement instead of miss Jaynes.

I understand that nurses burden a lot tasks and responsibilities on a daily basis and I don't want to make it sound hard on them. but after we had seen Dr. Porter, and miss Jaynes came in with her attitude toward us for my son's 3 vaccine shots, 2 consecutive shots on my son's left thigh and last shot on his right thigh, where it bled. And later the day, we discovered that his thighs were redness and swollen with bump.

This is why I HATE Kaiser Permanente. I left them under ACA, but had to return this year. Have a Lupus Rx I have to refill monthly. Started trying weeks ago. Now basically out. They finally fit me into my former primary care today. Actually had a great, encouraging visit. Even thought they were an hour late seeing me. Then another 30 minutes by which point the Dr had left since it was after 5pm. Pharmacy finally has the Rx, but at retail, which is like $300. Saying they wouldn't pay for it. Mind you, my records indicate that I have filled EXACTLY the pre-reqs they require. Which is why, under the EXACT same health record # in 2015 & earlier it was covered. But their billing dept isn't looking at that, or the scanned documentation that originally facilitated the approval. Even after the pharmacist’s third call where she told them she can see it. KP billing just parrots off that I will have to wait through an appeal process. The poor pharmacist was caught in the middle, and the Dr can't be reached. I AM TIRED, FURIOUS AND DEFINITELY NOT "THRIVING" UNDER KP. Don't get me started about my multi-year battle with them over Sjogren's being medical not dental.

My mother was hospitalized on december 30 for heart failure.
After being admitted. We were told she had internal bleeding then was told she had a blood clot, then lupus. She never seemed to get better breathing worsened and exhausted and weak was sent home barely could walk. Doctor was insistent that shs was ready to go home after are repeatedly voicing our concerns. She went back to the hospital after 3 days. Terrible horrible care
Dont feel comfortable leaving my mom in there care.. Not a safe place go in. Sick leaving with more issues.. Something needs to be done this health care needs to be shut down...

My name is isabel juarez, im at kaiser baldwin park, in 4th floor east with my mother maria juarez, and this lady that i thought it was a nurse, her name is, susan stewart . That she stand in the nurse station and yelled at my 14 yrs old son telling him to get off the other bed in a loud voice, i turn and sed excuses me, and she sed it again but yelling said "i sed get off the bed"
i walk to her at the nurse station and told her, she didnt had to yield at my son, that she could go in the room and let me know, so she had an attitude and told me get him out off the bed . And she walk away . When i told her thats not the way to tell my son, and i sed i need to talk to the nurse supervisor, she got the phone and call someone and hung of the phone and walk away from me going to the other nurse station, and i sed im talking to you . So she left me talking and standing there, until the nurse michele came and she saw me i was upset, i told her what happen and she walk towards the other nurse station and thats when the charge nurse came and walk into my moms room 4010 and sed she was the charge nurse, and i sed im the one that needed to talk to you, so i explain her the situation that susan stewart (the nurse) had yield at my 14 year old son and amy was explaining me why they dont want any person sitting or laying around the other patient bed .
I understand what amy explain me .
But i dont see right that susan stewart yield across the room & get an attitude at me . When i ask amy (charge nurse) that if i could get the name of the nurse that at all this time i was thinking it was a nurse, amy gave me the name and last name and told me she was just a worker and she was going to talk to her, but that i needed to understand that they dont want anyone in the bed or near, i totally understand. I told amy that i didn't feel comfortable with what the worker susan stewart did, and i was going to make a report thats when amy (charge nurse) told me, i will like for someone to take an action about this situation that happened today 12/18/2016 @ 6:45pm
my mom is been in this hospital for the last 9, or 10 days she just got out on 12/14/16 and got admitted on 12/17/16 . This is my number if u decide to contact me [protected]
maria juarez
medical record # [protected]

Just curious as to why it takes so long for Kaiser to certify their doctors.
My primary care doctor relocated to another city. I was not notified of this until I called to schedule my annual physical. Then I was told there was not another doctor that I could see (although 2 had been recently hired) because Kaiser puts the physicians through a rigorous certification process. That was almost six months ago and the physician I chose as my replacement primary care provider is still not certified and I am informed it may take an additional 6-12 months. This is ridiculous! I believe it is a marketing ploy to reroute patients to their specific facilities and physicians. The facility I have utilized is located approximately one mile from my home- why should I have to go 5-10 miles away. It wastes gas- increases my carbon footprint and quite frankly wastes my time as do your continued phone calls asking one to call back only to hear a message that does nothing more than promote the wonders of Kaiser. I already know and appreciate what Kaiser provides.
Also, sure would help if you could update your "find a doctor" pages on the website. During my process of trying to find another primary care physician, I called no less than 23 providers listed in your pages as currently accepting new patients- only to find out that 22 of them were NOT accepting new patients and the one that was, could schedule me with an appointment 8 months out.
Thanks for listening/reading

I have been on the Kaiser Permanent health plan off and on since 2006. I used to love it. Now I really would like to change healthcare providers, as Kaiser treats their patients poorly. Here is my story.

My husband switched his healthcare plan in 2012. I was suffering from a chronic condition. I was in and out of the ER and not sure how to manage it. With the help of my doctor, I had the condition in check by learning my triggers, finding the right medications, and using Tylenol 3 as needed for pain. It gave me some quality of life.

About a year or so ago, my once beloved doctor changed. He became cold and informed me that the laws for narcotics had changed. He started asking me invasive questions such as do I sell my pain medication. It made me laugh because it was so outlandish! Seriously?! I was drug tested and passed.

A few months later my stomach started hurting. I emailed me doctor for advice. I was told to make a appointment with my gastro specialist. Anyone that has Kaiser knows it takes months to get a available appointment. Every day the pain got worse, and I ended up in the ER. I got a appointment with the nurse practitioner in the gastro department. He found the problem, but a total tool. I can understand why he has a open schedule. The ER doctor found I had a swelled stomach. I just needed a medication adjusted. I guess my primary could not figure that.

Time went on, and my leg started hurting. I figured at first I had hurt it. It did not go away and it got progressively worse. I called to make a appointment with my primary. The next appointment was two weeks away. I had to go to go to make a appointment with Urgent Care. I had a pinched nerve. I had to make a second appointment with Urgent Care a second time for a referral for physical medicine, since once again my doctor was booked up for two weeks.

Out of the blue, my doctor's nurse calls me and requests a appointment. How amazing that she can book a appointment in a three days! I was excited to see my doctor. I had not seen him in a long time. Guess what, it was just another uncomfortable session with invasive questions.. I asked if he could fill a prescription for steroids, he does so reluctantly. He informs me I should have gotten them from my physical medicine doctor. Are you kidding me?! I had to wait months to get a appointment for a physical medicine appointment and a physical therapy too! It was the therapist whorrequested the steroids because of the level of pain I was in. She seemed to think it was perfectly okay to ask my primary for this medication. I left this appointment feeling annoyed and confused at what had happened to my once really nice doctor.

Over the weekend I had a bad reaction to the steroids and it was not helping the pain I was in either. My lower back, left side, stomach, hurt so bad it felt like I was on fire. As if my nerve endings were being bitten by thousands of fire ants. I could not stop barfing. The ER doctor gave me pain meds and sent me home.

I emailed, left numerous messages for my primary. He just ignored me. I received no call back, nothing.. Finally, I received a email after three days of agonizing pain. It was addressing another issue. I have never been so angry besides a doctor that almost killed me.

Come to find out Kaiser rarely gives out pain medication anyone. Instead of conveying this to me, my doctor ignored me, treated me poorly, purposely made me feel uncomfortable I believe so I would choose another healthcare provider.

Kaiser is a disgusting and inhumane! I could not sleep for four days. I was left to cry in my bed curled in a ball. That is the way Kaiser doctors will treat you. They could care less if you are in pain.

It gets even better! I picked a new primary doctor and she is forcing me to be weaned off my pain medication. Lucky for me I have been a cash patient in a pain management/medicard office. It is cash only. But well worth it if I do not have to deal with this bs anymore! I have no idea why my husband has to pay for our healthcare. To be treated so poorly. I mean that is what people are doing now a days.

The new laws are bullcrap! If someone had offered me a illegal drug when I was in that much pain, I am not sure if I could of refused. By denying people of pain medication, the illegal trade will blossom. At least a doctor is monitoring what you are taking. When you are in agony, you may do whatever it takes to feel better. All places like Kaiser are doing is making more business for the local drug dealers.

I had to resign from my position at Kaiser due to family member becoming ill, and I did not give a 2 week notice, only a day notice due to the circumstance. I was never told by my supervisor that I was not eligible for rehire, an investigation was never done, and HR never contacted me. Later when I was able to work again, I realized I wasn't getting calls back from Kaiser. I called HR on my own, and found out I was on the do not rehire list. Policy states, "5.9 An employee who voluntarily resigns (not resignation in lieu of termination)
should not be designated as IFR without the manager first consulting with the
HR Professional assigned to the terminating employee’s department and/or the
appropriate Legal liaison counsel for the medical center or Region."
I am not aware of anyone consulting HR or legal regarding my status as IFR. Its been years since I worked at KP, and I recently received an email from HR they would review my file for a chance to come off the list. I haven't heard from them in weeks. I do not know where to go from here, as I was an excellent employee, never once written up, I only had personal circumstance that required I resign w/o notice.

For about three months now I have paid my premiums. The phone calls get me nothing since they say they have no record of me even though I have the bill in my hand. They somehow had me in for two policies by mistake and cancelled one of them. The only thing they are good at is sending more bills. Numerous phone calls each week get me nothing but false promises. I have not been able to see a doctor yet because I have to start over at least three times during each phone call to try and get this fixed. If anyone knows a good attorney I would like to hear about it ! How is it that people can get paid to answer phones that have no idea as to what they are doing ?

I have pernicious anemia. I have to take B12 shots in order to not get very ill. I have not been able to get both the B12 vials and the syringes for the past two years without problems. I submitted a complaint and got a determination that my issue was "not medically indicated". How absurd. Since my disease process will not allow me to absorb B12 from the foods I eat because of my stomach's inability to absorb B12. How can I use the B12 vials without the syringes. My doctor will not even allow me to take B12 subcutaneously because I'm required to take it intra-muscularly. How could any medically competent person or company think that someone should be able to take a medication required to be given intra-muscularly without syringes. This issue has resulted in my having to take the medication incorrectly using the same needle for both drawing up the medication and administering the medication. In addition, I've had to put off taking the B12 for a month or two longer than I should because of my lack of both B12 and syringes available at the same time in my home. Kaiser should be ashamed of their process of providing medication and their appeal process. Shame on you Kaiser. MRN: 11-[protected]