You won't believe this one!!!!! About a doctor. Kaiser Related.

[Epoman]

OK here's the story, I currently have kaiser for insurance and if you know Kaiser you know what I'm talking about. Now bear in mind your experience may be different than mine depending on what area you are in. My Kaiser Neph, it is impossible to contact her and the only way to talk to her is make an appointment to see her in person. If I want to leave her a message I'm not allowed to leave her a message in my own words I have to leave it with a person and that person will leave the message,  It's ridiculous. So I was amazed when I went to my referral visit at another Kaiser hospital for an evaluation with a neph there for NxStage. At the end of our appointment the Doctor gave me her card with number. I thought oh great,  what good is this another number where I have to leave a message with someone else. But low and behold a few days later I was following up with my new appointment date/time and to my surprise the doctor answered.  She actually answered the phone and was very pleasant and took the time to talk to me. 

I was shocked and yes that is sad that I am not used to being able to get a hold of a doctor so easily. This doctor is probably the nicest doctor I have ever met. Just the fact that she gave me her direct number really impressed me.

- Epoman

[Naggy6]

I think that is great,  it sure is not easy to find a Dr. like that these days.

My primary care Dr. who also happens to be a neph. is good like that also. She has even been out to the house for parties and to the beach for our new year's day swim.

I have had the same Dr. for 20 years so that could have some thing to do with it.

[kevno]

Well Epoman looks like you hit the lotto with that Doctor. You do not meet many doctors nowadays who really care. Most all Doctors seem interested in is the MONEY

I have never had a phone number for a Doctor given to me, only his/hers office, even then I have never talked to the doctor, only left a message on a answer machine, which never gets returned 

Kevno

[livecam]

Epo,

I'm insured with Kaiser too.  One day while sitting in the exam room waiting for the doctor to come in I noticed a bulletin board just outside in the hall with staff office numbers on it.  I copied my nephs number and called some time later about something.  He wasn't happy about that!  I'm familiar with the gatekeeper system you mentioned earlier.  Communication all depends on the physician involved.  My primary returns calls promptly and when there is a problem goes the distance with testing etc. until he gets to the bottom of the problem.  My transplant coordinator has no problems with being called direct and she has been the single most helpful person I've had to interact with from day 1.  I kind of understand what Kaiser is trying to do here.  The gatekeeper system lets the medical staff concentrate on doing their jobs while pushing the secretarial work off to someone else.  It actually works pretty well...I think I would rather have my neph saving some guys life (like he did mine) instead of answering the phone.  The system is slow and sometimes impersonal but with alot of patience on the patients part it does work.

[Mom3]

Our new nephrologists office gave us a number for the nurse practioner and she is wonderful and very responsive. Really makes a difference to have that and know she will talk to you!

Mom3

[angieskidney]

I think that is great,  it sure is not easy to find a Dr. like that these days.

My primary care Dr. who also happens to be a neph. is good like that also. She has even been out to the house for parties and to the beach for our new year's day swim.

I have had the same Dr. for 20 years so that could have some thing to do with it.

Wow that is amazing!

Nephrologists in my city would never get chummy like that.

Infact even when I wanted to be a Hemo dialysis unit volunteer when I was still on PD my Social Worker told me that the dialysis nurses and the Nephrologists don't want to work "Side by side with their renal patients as co-workers!!"   

[livecam]

Epo if you understand Kaiser like I do you know that they will always do what is cheapest.  Thats the reason they go the distance when it comes to getting their patients transplants.  The cost to transplant a person is about what yearly dialysis costs and then after assuming all is well the costs of maintenance drugs are a small fraction of what dialysis would cost.  They can be penny wise and pound foolish though.  The cause of my kidney failure was diabetes which became worse after the transplant.  I pleaded with them for an insulin pump to better control bg levels but they said pound sand. Well if the kidney fails early because of less than optimal bg control guess who winds up paying for dialysis again!

[angieskidney]

aren't there other ways to get an insulin pump in the USA? The dialysis unit might not be the best place to ask for that.

[charee]

My Nephrologist has given me her mobile phone number and I can ring anytime which is great. She is just about to have a baby and will be taking 5 months off but has told  me I can still ring her anytime .I think thats fantastic .

[livecam]

Kaiser Permanente is a  health maintenance organization, not a dialysis unit although they have recently opened some units.  Kaiser has it's own doctors, medical offices, and hospitals so members get all of their healthcare through them exclusively.  The very few things they don't do in house (like transplants) are contracted out to outside facilities.  It's a Kaiser neph I saw before, during, and after dialysis, Kaiser endos for diabetes, Kaiser cardiologists for part of the transplant workup etc. Some of their people can be very accommodating, I have a primary physician, a neph, and a transplant coordinator who can do no wrong.  My endo however is another story.

[livecam]

Deleted by livecam.

[angieskidney]

wow! Is Kaiser only American? I have 3 Neph's and a dialysis nurse where I am and have to go out of town to see the transplant coordinator and neurologists and surgeons there.

[livecam]

Yep American only.  They operate in several areas of the country so when we go to the islands we can use their facilites there which we've done many times.  They can be very good, and sometimes not so good but they get the job done and the price is right.

[angieskidney]

and the price is right.

How much?

[livecam]

It depends on how you are buying it.  Usually it is done through an employer at group rates but coverage can be purchased on an individual basis.  There are also co-pays for each Dr. visit, ER visit, and hospitalization and they range from $0 to $?  depending on what coverage you have. Family rates through an employer are usually pretty good.