Re: I like Kaiser Permanante

Subject: Re: Re: I like Kaiser Permanante

Comments:
: My experiance is that some people love kaiser permanente, some hate them. : It all depends on if you want freedom of choice, or if you don't mind someone having more control over your health care. : Obviously their business has grown for a reson, low premiums and a standard of service for some people. But you are not going to get comprehensive treatment, when kaiser doesn't operate that way. : Agent : : Many people love to bash HMO’s and the type of service they provide. I am sure many have good reasons to do so. However, I have had nothing but good experiences with my HMO, Kaiser Permananté. First of all I do not like the aggressive treatment that many private physicians provide. I think there is usually a financial motive for it. The general public has become so accustomed to the aggressive treatment that if a doctor does not treat them aggressively then they feel that the doctor is incompetent. I have seen situations where a person goes to a doctor complaining about cold and a discomfort in his chest. A good doctor, who immediately recognizes that it is chest cold, treats the patient accordingly. The patient is unhappy because this doctor did not do all the tests, like an EKG, like his private physician would have. Hence the HMO’s are bad. I am a firm believer in non-aggressive medical treatment of the body. : : I have had nothing but excellent treatment for me and my family from competent physicians like Dr. Hayman and Dr. Richtering of Kaiser Permananté. These are highly qualified, dedicated physicians who would rather take fixed salaries and spend more time with their families than run a medical business with the main goal of making large profits. : : Here is the story of my recent experience. My 74-year-old mother has severe arthritis in her knees. I read about a unique product called Synvisc in a magazine and requested more information on it. They sent me product literature along with the names of the physicians in our area that offer the treatment using Synvisc. Kaiser Permananté was not on the list. I investigated the costs of this treatment with some of the physicians on the list and came to the conclusion that the complete treatment in one knee would cost about $2,000, including the cost of three vials of Synvisc at $240 each. : : I then set up an appointment for my mother to see Dr. George Lennard (Orthopedics, Rockville center Kaiser Permananté). Dr. Lennard was very caring. He even touched my mother’s knees to find out exactly where it was hurting! We asked him about the best course of action for my mother. He described in detail the pros and cons of knee replacement surgery versus treatment using painkillers. In order to explain it properly he even showed us x-rays of healthy knees, artificial knees, and my mother’s knees. My mother and I decided that the knee replacement surgery was not a preferred option at this point. : : We then asked him about Synvisc. We were surprised to find out that he does treat patients using Synvisc, but that Kaiser Permananté does not pay for the vials of Synvisc. He also explained that only one of the knees of my mother was a candidate for Synvisc treatment. We decided to go ahead with Synvisc treatment. Dr. Lennard wrote out a prescription for Synvisc. Dr. Lennard’s assistant, Liz (Elizabeth Hollis), explained to us that Synvisc was quite expensive and we should price shop it at various pharmacies including Kaiser Permananté pharmacy before buying it. After visiting Dr. Lennard we went downstairs and I decided ask the Kaiser Permananté pharmacy if they sold Synvisc. To my total surprise, the pharmacist said yes, and she even had it in stock at $103 a vial. Remember $240 a vial that the private physician wanted to charge me? I wanted to buy three vials for my mother. To my further surprise, the pharmacist recommended that I buy only one vial in case my mother turns out to be allergic to it. Then the other two vials would not be wasted. : : More surprises were in store for us. On the spur of the moment we decided to go upstairs and ask Liz if Dr. Lennard wouldn’t mind injecting Synvisc right away instead of us coming back another day. Surprise, surprise! We were immediately accommodated and my mother’s knee was treated with Synvisc. Since my mother turned out to be not allergic to Synvisc, her knee was treated two more times, one-week apart, and she is feeling much better. Our total cost $309. : : I like Kaiser Permananté.

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