I really doubt it, but what happened this evening, after I got home from my golf Men's Club meeting, just warmed the cockles of my heart.
Shortly after getting home, the Emergency Department at Kaiser Permanente called in reference to my most recent blood work, I had done earlier this afternoon, in preparation for my appointment with my doctor tomorrow morning.
They were aware of the fact that I had lymphoma, but still called to report my White Blood Cell (WBC) count was 81.9 with 98% lymphocytes.
I was shocked, not only because 81.9 is about 20% lower than it was last month (which is a good thing), but with the fact that they bothered to call at all, and that they were concerned with the possibility I may be having a fever or chills or something else.
My guess is it's actually an error, and my WBC hasn't dropped 20%, but even if it is an error, I thought that was very nice of Kaiser Emergency personnel, to take the extra time to review the report, and call me. In my opinion, that is above and beyond the call of duty, and service I doubt many other health care providers would have provided.
That, plus the fact that I won $20 at the meeting this evening, is making the start of 2007 look better and better.
Cross Posted at My Journal
Shortly after getting home, the Emergency Department at Kaiser Permanente called in reference to my most recent blood work, I had done earlier this afternoon, in preparation for my appointment with my doctor tomorrow morning.
They were aware of the fact that I had lymphoma, but still called to report my White Blood Cell (WBC) count was 81.9 with 98% lymphocytes.
I was shocked, not only because 81.9 is about 20% lower than it was last month (which is a good thing), but with the fact that they bothered to call at all, and that they were concerned with the possibility I may be having a fever or chills or something else.
My guess is it's actually an error, and my WBC hasn't dropped 20%, but even if it is an error, I thought that was very nice of Kaiser Emergency personnel, to take the extra time to review the report, and call me. In my opinion, that is above and beyond the call of duty, and service I doubt many other health care providers would have provided.
That, plus the fact that I won $20 at the meeting this evening, is making the start of 2007 look better and better.
Cross Posted at My Journal
Comments
Then there's the 2 Million lawsuit which Kaiser lost for mismanaging their new Kidney Organ Donor Program.
"News of the fine, first reported by CBS 5 Investigates on Wednesday evening, comes three months after Kaiser shut down its two-year old Northern California kidney transplant program amid mounting regulatory pressure and patient lawsuits alleging botched paperwork and administrative errors had imperiled patients' lives.
CBS 5 first uncovered the delays and disorganization that put Kaiser patients' lives at risk. A series of investigative stories reported on the serious failures in implementing the approximately two-year-old program and transferring Kaiser patients from transplant systems run by other health care providers." cbs5.com
But your story has definitely made me warm and fuzzy.
Kaiser is the largest health care provider in the state. So they are bound to piss off more people, and get greater notoriety. While they may have more problems totally, than other providers, that is because they treat many more people.
The other problems are unfortunate, but you can blame the way health care expenses are reimbursed.
The homeless people must be provided health care, but Kaiser receives no reimbursement for those costs. They can't be expected to keep prices down, if they have to continually provide free care. In order to stay in business they either have to find ways to reduce health care costs, or risk bankruptcy.
The kidney transplant ward was unfortunate, but their intentions were good. It was just mismanaged.
Don't blame Kaiser! The real blame lies with the federal government!