kaiserfraud ([info]corphq) wrote,
@ 2005-09-15 15:47:00
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Entry tags:kaiser permanente

Kaiser Cheated to Get High "Quality" Marks
Over the last couple of days Kaiser has put out a series of press releases to show off its high "Quality" scores from the Office of the Patient Advocate. People should be made aware that such results are carefully manipulated. Kaiser physicians are given bonuses for engaging in activities that will achieve high marks according to the criteria set by Quality tests: Bonus Deal.

These bonuses are the equivalent of a high school "teaching to the test" for the SATs. When high schools teach to the test, students learn how to do well on the SATs, and nothing else. When HMOs teach to the test, physicians focus on meeting the test criteria (developed from general concepts) rather than the specific needs of the patient. Diagnosing a patient with breast cancer might get the physician a bonus: but why bother performing the tests for Lyme Disease if there's no bonus involved?

Furthermore, the HMOs decide the criteria of these Quality tests for themselves via a consortium (NCQA). The State of California is now in the process of handing over their annual HMO surveys to NCQA - so the HMOs will be overseeing their own claims to quality!

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=49028

How corrupt can you get?


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(Anonymous)
2005-09-16 06:15 pm UTC (link)
This is what happens when you have a health care industry focused on the profit margin and enhancing the salaries of CEO's instead of delivering competent, compassionate, efficient service to patients in need. These are the sort of people who health care reform in this country. Your exposure about what those scores really means illustrates why. From their self-evaluation, to the treatment of employees, and sub-standard practice of delivering health care services Kaiser continues to demonstrate that their existence serves no useful purpose. As an entity their entire organization should either be persuaded to reform or liquidate itself for the public good. As they operate currently Kaiser is a public menace.

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[info]corphq
2005-09-16 08:14 pm UTC (link)
There was a therapist who questioned Kaiser's representations of NCQA, and I think his remarks could be more broadly applied:

Kaiser’s one size fits most philosophy goes against NCQA’s priority that treatment decisions are appropriate to the patients particular needs

He also remarked on Kaiser's patient satisfaction scores:

Kaiser may be very good at generating patient satisfaction data. I’m sure Kaiser therapists are excellent ambassadors for their employer. They’d better be if they wish to keep their jobs. Kaiser’s independent research pursues patient satisfaction data, not patient outcome. There is a difference.

//persuaded to reform//

Well, I keep saying that all I'm asking that Kaiser make the effort to do the right thing. I haven't heard back from Kate Scanlon (supposedly the Ethics leadership in Northern CA) since she declared that Kaiser's medical ethics and administrative ethics were different things, and she didn't have to care about the administrative side.

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[info]corphq
2005-09-16 08:23 pm UTC (link)
I'm going to blog on this later, but here's Kaiser's broker bonus program for the mid-Atlantic states. I don't think the brokers are in it for the "recognition dinner with Kaiser Permanente senior leadership", lol.

Gold: All Silver benefits plus . . .
• Eligible for retention bonuses
• Up to $500 per agency in co-op advertising each year
• Recognition dinner with Kaiser Permanente senior leadership
• Agency’s name in press releases and advertisements promoting the program
• $200 discount per agent to the NAHU annual convention
($600 maximum per agency)

Platinum Eliste: All Gold benefits plus . . .
• Expedited small group underwriting turnaround
• Expedited new case installation for large group
• Up to $1,000 per agency in co-op advertising each year
• Invitation to Elite Broker Conference for you and a guest (clients not eligible)
• $300 discount per agent to the NAHU annual convention
($900 maximum per agency)

Diamond Elite: All Platinum Elite benefits plus . . .
• Annual book of business override
• Up to $2,000 per agency in co-op advertising each year
• $300 discount per agent to the NAHU annual convention
($1,500 maximum per agency)

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Quality; Yeah, Right!
(Anonymous)
2005-11-05 04:24 am UTC (link)
Pneumonia patient died after receiving double dose of medication, state finds

Friday, November 4, 2005

(11-04) 11:27 PST San Jose, Calif. (AP)
State health regulators cited a second Kaiser Permanente hospital in the South Bay for giving the wrong medication this summer to a patient who later died. The California Department of Health Services determined that officials at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Santa Clara were "deficient" in their care of Josephine Frances Hart, a 12-year-old girl hospitalized with pneumonia who died the same day she received a double dose of the drug epinephrine.

In their August report, investigators said the San Jose girl's death a month earlier came after a nurse accidentally administered two bags of the drug, which speeds up the heart rate, thinking one was an antibiotic.

"The death of this young girl is tragic, and we're holding the hospital responsible," said Lea Brooks, a health services spokeswoman.

The Santa Clara County Coroner's Office said Friday it's still investigating the cause of death.

The hospital now requires that at least two registered nurses double-check that the medication is being administered to the right person.

Earlier this week, the health department cited another hospital, Kaiser Permanente Santa Teresa Medical Center, for a similar infraction.

Chemotherapy patient Christopher Robin Wibeto, 21, died in August three days after a cancer-fighting drug called vincristine, which was intended for another patient, was injected into his spine.

Under an agreement with the health department, the hospital now requires that three people — a doctor, a nurse, and a pharmacist — verify that the correct medication is being administered to patients.
The coroner's office is still investigating Wibeto's cause of death.

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Re: Quality; Yeah, Right!
[info]corphq
2005-11-06 12:54 am UTC (link)
Thanks for posting this. I've wanted to blog about it, but I'm in a pivot point with my legal situation, and I have to wait a few days.

I also want to take a look at Kaiser's exploitation of contract medical transcriptionists and outsourcing.

I noticed that Kaiser hastily made a donation to a nursing school. This seems to be a pattern for Kaiser's PR department. Check it out for yourself. Every time Kaiser does something screwy, they quickly make a big donation to something and hope their generous gesture will swamp out the bad press. Apparently acting to directly repair any wrong done will just perpetuate the bad press by calling attention to Kaiser's mistake. Therefore, even if it would have cost less just to repair the damage, Kaiser would rather leave the victim screwed and make a grand gesture elsewhere.

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