Why Kaiser Permanente Is Not Across More of America

In Response to My Previous Video on the Success of Kaiser Permanente, Multiple Viewers Asked, "If Kaiser is So Great, Why Is It Not in More Places in America?"

Great Question.

Kaiser Tried--and Failed--to Expand to Texas, North Carolina, New York and New England in the 1980s and 1990s. Kaiser Was Unsuccessful Because:

1) Kaiser did not have the local, large critical mass of members from a Union or Government Employees that is necessary to fund the doctors, clinics and hospitals in the early days of operations.

2) The local doctor and hospital communities were adversarial to the vertically integrated, HMO model of care.

That was over 20 years ago. Would Kaiser be more successful today if they tried to expand again? Who knows?

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#HealthcareCosts #HealthcareIndustry #KaiserPermanente

[nancylove]

About 15 years ago I had my first child delivered by Kaiser San Francisco. My sweet daughter was almost born dead because the lack of proper monitor and care in the delivery room! We switched to Blue Cross since then. This year in 2022 we decided to switch back to try for a year because the premium cost of blue cross is getting too high. I went to see a dr with my two teenage daughters. My experience was not good, we chose a family dr, when we arrived, they told me my daughter is now over 14, she should see the dr by herself, at that time I was ok. Then when it was my turn, they sent my daughter in the room with me with the dr. And when the dr needed to check my body, she had me undressed in front of her and my daughter, no partition, no any privacy. I had not problem going undressed with my daughters. Just didn’t understand why they treated the teens and the adults so differently. If the teens needed some privacy or sense of security talking to the dr, should they understand the parent also may like to get some privacy! Nope! They are just indifferent and wanted to have it done ASAP and moved on. With this experience, Blue Cross Is not too expensive!

[felicelococo]

Why there aren't more Kaiser around the country because their damn medical sucks

[gogreen]

I have been with Kaiser Permanente since the early 1980s from Sacramento, to Northern Virginia, to Denver. In every location, the medical professionals, the lab workers, the staff at every level have taken VERY good care of me.

[michaelwilde]

Well, I agree, they do take your premiums. That's all though. They took my premiums and left me disabled because they refused me treatment. All I needed was physical therapy for a ruptured tendon. Kaiser said no. Kaiser is evil and will keep you from getting medical treatment.

[josephtucciarone]

Thank you the your thorough analysis. I have been with Kaiser for almost 60 of my 65 years. I want to move away for the Peoples Republic of CA, but want to stay with Kaiser of similar.

[bryanta]

Thanks for this video and explanation, very informative appreciate it !

[gvcarpenter]

Kaiser is hugely successful in Washington State, and I have had nothing less than excellent, high-quality care from them. I was originally with another HMO, Group Health Cooperative, which merged with Kaiser in the early 2000s. GHC was great, top-notch care. Since the merger, I've only received better care. I'm a high-risk patient, with compound conditions and require a high level of coordinated care. I've not wanted for anything, nor have I had to wait for care and receiving out of network specialty care or hospitalization has never been a problem or an extra expense. I would not want to receive care anywhere else. In all, I have been a member of GHC/KPWa for 42 years.

[sharroncalundan]

Am 75, RN, just stopped working 3 years ago. Worked for Kaiser for 45 years. Had heart valve surgery 15 years ago, one if my brothers had 2 bouts of cancer, lived for 26 years. Did not die of cancer. Only thing I can say about anyone complaining is that we do not have the patient’s charts to see what really happened. Your primary schedules specialists appoints, scans labs whatever is needed while you are in the exam room. Excellent care. You can call at 3:00 am, speak with RN advice nurse and get help. You may not like what you are being told and you may not follow up but you will be helped.

[mrc]

Run, don't walk away from Kaiser. I have been trying to make a CT exam for over 60 days. Impossible to get thru.
The doctors may be okay but meaningless when zero support. F-

[TerryBedard-ow]

Thank you for the overview.I worked as a nurse in management when Kaiser tried to enter upstate NY healthcare. It was a complete fail ! Their success is all about the bottom line, not about the patients. WHPUOS =worked hours per unit of service, and that unit was measured CONSTANTLY! How long were employees on the phone with a pt, how long did it take to check a pt in and out, how long the md was in the room with a pt. EVERYTHING was measured, and needed a plan to improve the NUMBERS, not improve the pt care.Staff had to concentrate more on that the pts.If your numbers were high you received great bonuses. Our MD's and surgeons refused to compromise pt care in this manner.And Kaiser pulled out within two years.In my opinion, it was the BEST decision for upstate NY !

[nitreall]

Really enjoyed your explanation Doc. Thank you.

Would be great to learn with few examples of how they leverage this integrated vertical system to optimize the customer experience and reduce costs.

Also, I'd like to suggest you to include your name in the channel name. I feel that will give your channel a bit more edge with the Personal Branding.

[zeitgeistx]

Lol watching an American trying to reinvent the wheel when you can just looking at the rest of the develop word and healthcare works there to realize how insane our for profit system is.

[chrisherrera]

"Please, " Bring Kaiser Permanente to Florida. Sarasota to Naples would be a good area. It's a thumbs up for everyone. 👍.

[stephaniestevens]

Kaiser should be torn down and this healthcare system is terrible especially for people who have serious conditions.

[BoxingMindPodcast]

To be fair to Kaiser, all insurances are happy to take your money but all of them also don’t want to take pay for you to get treatment. I’m currently with Kaiser and so far it’s been good. I also did research my primary care doctor before choosing her and well I’m lucky I have a good one. But that’s my experience so far.

[CBPJLPCL]

well, if its any indication of kaiser permanente's practices, after my daughter died in the ICU of the kaiser permanente in south san francisco after 3 prior ER visits and never admitted her, I started receiving invoices and medical insurance questionnaires.

[zigmundrubel]

Dr. Bricker, excellent video and framework to the Kaiser model. I have been with Kaiser for the last 24 years, , since moving to CA. Overall, their care has been good for me and my family. I think where they can improve is with complex care and specialized treatment, which is my point for you to consider, and that is, Kaiser’s relationship to Academic Medical Centers, knowing that they can not treat everything in their model. Is that a factor or not to their succes?.

[dfirth]

It has a lot to do with the history of Kaiser. They started during WWII taking care of the workers at the Kaiser shipyards. Many of the shipyard workers came from the mid-west, even Dust Bowl refugees. Many had never been to a doctor in their life. Kaiser had them all doing exercises before their shift started each day and gave them vitamins. Kaiser has been described as "assembly line medicine". That's how they keep the costs down. Kaiser is very good at preventative medicine. I've been with Kaiser for 25 years and I'm a two time cancer survivor and now I'm being treated for a new cancer. My experience with Kaiser doctors has been mostly good, especially with the specialists.

[smehrabi]

Thanks Dr. Bricker, i don't see a link to the article you mentioned in the video!

[dudoji]

When a payer and provider is the same, isnt there a conflict of interest? I feel HMOs are good for preventative care, but good luck if there is something catastrophic