Kaiser sucks rant

Monicalynnsd · March 2014

Has anyone else started to believe kaiser sucks for pregnancy? I've been with them for 9 years, and I always liked how easy it was to get appointments and how everything is under one roof, but now that I'm pregnant I'm seeing a different side to kaiser. My biggest complaint is they make it impossible to get in touch with your Obgyn. I had a food poisoning scare last weekend and ended up in the ER with horrible cramping and bloody diarrhea. The ER doc sent me home with antibiotics. Before all this, when my SO came home from work on Friday and found me on the floor in pain, he tried calling my Obgyn office. He was only able to leave a message. On Saturday, after the ER visit I emailed and left another message for my Obgyn, asking questions about the antibiotics they gave me and the cramping I was still having and I requested a call back and an appointment. I got a call back from a general nurse on Monday seeing how I was doing. Still no call back or response to my email from my Obgyn. I finally got a call from her yesterday, an entire week after the ER incident. I've talked to other girls who's obgyns give them their cell phones for emergencies, my SO thought this was standard practice and couldn't believe how difficult it was to get in touch with mine. After this baby is born I'm going to switch insurance, I don't want to go through this again with my next baby. Anyone else feel the same way??

pantherRN · March 2014

I would seriously love to meet the crazy doctor that gives out their personal cell number. That is not common practice, for an OB or any doctor for that matter.

FWIW, I think that your OB's office could have been slightly more responsive, but your experience is pretty typical. Even when I called on Wednesday and was worried I was leaking fluid, I had to leave a message and have them call me back.

lindslalala · March 2014

I'm sorry you're having a hard time with them, that sucks! The few pregnant people I've known who have Kaiser haven't liked it much either. I have my midwife's cell number for emergencies and also thought this was pretty normal. Don't you just get the on call OB when you're in labor with Kaiser, so it makes more sense I guess that you wouldn't have one specific cell number.

Csltdk · March 2014

I thought this thread was going to be about how Teen Mom Jenelle is naming her 2nd son Kaiser.

Doh!

hgtvmom · March 2014

I'm sorry you are having a bad experience. My experience with Kaiser is the opposite. I've been iffy about their practices with my PCP. More ambivalent. But, my ob is fabulous! If I email her, I may not get a response for a couple hours - but it's usually around lunch time. In some cases, I email before I leave for work and get a response immediately. I haven't had a need I make an emergency phone call yet, but I've been super impressed with my ob so far.

bgoodbpar · March 2014

So bummed to hear that. I have had kaiser majority of my life minus a brief blue cross stint.. This is my second pregnancy, both with kp, and I have had a few issues come up and hospitalization/ER trips and they have been very responsive and my OB gets back to me pretty quick. If she can't in a timely manner the office has always contacted me via phone and email.

Monicalynnsd · March 2014

Thanks for your responses! I think with kaiser it comes down to your particular doctor. My friend has kaiser and she says her doctors always email her back right within a day, so far I haven't been lucky enough to find one of these kaiser doctors!!

jnnfrrose6 · March 2014

I had Kaiser half through my last pregnancy. My company switched insurance right as I was getting into my third tri. I had the option of sticking with kaiser through the pregnancy because I was into my third tri but went ahead and switched since I was going to have to after the baby came anyways. I never had any trouble getting in touch with my OB with Kaiser, though. I'd certainly ask why you didn't receive a call back sooner because it was a medical emergency that you ended up going to the ER for. That's not good. Why wouldn't they have someone on call to return your call, even if it's off hours?

hgtvmom · March 2014

tundrabunny said:
I'm not sure this is a Kaiser thing as much as it is an OB thing. Her office probably takes multiple insurances, Kaiser being one of them. Most likely her office has a slow turnaround time for all her patients (or you just fell through the cracks on this particular incident).

Either way, it's frustrating. My OB's office calls back within 24 hours usually, but I haven't had an emergency.

It's a Kaiser thing. Doctors are employed by Kaiser, so it's not a normal ob taking many insurances. If you don't have Kaiser, you don't see these doctors.

But, I do think it is an individual doctor thing. Or possibly an area thing. Maybe some practices are busier than others, so their patient to doctor ratio is higher? My former PCP was much like OP described (non-responsive) and I had some other issues with her, so when my office added a new PCP, I jumped ship and went to the newbie. She's much younger and newer to medicine. I have been happier with her service and response time. But, that could be a result of having fewer patients because she is the newbie too.

Our ob/gyn has been decent all along. I just haven't needed them much until we started infertility stuff and pregnancy. Now I think they are outstanding.

hgtvmom · March 2014

@Monicalynnsd if you want to change, look at their review profiles online. And ask the nurses. In my first appt with just the nurse, I had picked a random ob, as my previous gyn was no longer with Kaiser. When we were setting appts, my nurse asked who my on was. I told her, but said I had never met her. Nurse said she was nice, but since I wasn't tied to her yet, she had one she thought I would like better. And she changed me to a different ob.

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