I am writing to inform you of the abysmal level of service provided by your (he said sneeringly) 5-Star organization. I can't touch upon all your failures in the space I have and with my limited typing skills.
Let me start at the most recent atrocity. I asked to get a flu shot before the official kickoff of 9/24/2016 because I will be out of town on an extended trip of about a month. I was denied this simple request made of my doctor by her idiot 'gatekeeper' RN's, the latest of which told me the clinics begin 9/27/2016, which is patently incorrect, as well as no help at all. Kaiser sends e-mails and other correspondence about the importance of these shots, but it must be all 'lip service'. I am 73 years old, have always gotten the flu shots, and have never had the flu. I don't want to start now!
Prior to this I had cataract surgery. My surgeon, Dr. Rodarte and his staff were wonderful. The outcome was fantastic. I have 20/20 vision for the first time in my life! The surgery scheduling was a disaster, for both the right and left eyes (8/2 and 9/15). Your surgery scheduling team is a mess, initially offering surgery at a site I didn't want and offering an alternative far in the future. Doesn't anyone care about the patient? It got worse, but I finally got the surgery, and it was successful, through no effort by your schedulers. After the first surgery I had to do a follow-up with the optometrist, and I specifically requested Dr. Uyesugi, who was so helpful in getting me into the surgery, but who I had to delay seeing to meet his schedule. I readily agreed to this delay, but when I checked my online appointments, I was assigned to someone else! I got that corrected. He is a wonderful doctor! But what are they doing in scheduling? I was standing there in front of the person, who seemingly understood what I was saying, yet she booked me with someone else!
This leads to your online system, which really sucks, but you can get in touch with me if you care to hear the specifics.
Then there are the times I was forced to accept "telephone appointments" because I couldn't get in to see my doctor. You really don't care to hear what I have to say about that. But why choose a doctor that one cannot get in to see? Or respond to on e-mail?
When I was out of town in 2015, I fell and fractured some ribs. When I called Kaiser for directions, I got a 'gatekeeper' nurse, who obviously doesn't know anatomy or understand basic descriptions. My cousin listened to the conversation and can vouch for my comments. I was so frustrated I went to the local ER and was diagnosed and treated. The only help I received from Kaiser was in the handling of the insurance. They seemed to be adept at that.
I could go on, but it seems pointless. It is obvious to me that Kaiser cares more for its systems than its patients. Your recent addition of 40,000 patients, offset by the addition of only 80 doctors reflects this callous disregard. What do you think will happen to patient care and staff morale? My guess is it will sink further into the toilet.
Do you care?
