Kaiser Permanente Hawaii : bad doctors lacking care of patients?

[phatcow]

Yesterday was my first time seeing internal medicine of my health plan, kaiser. I was greeted with the usual wheres your kaiser card babble, and because of the fact that i didnt have it with me(it was in my car) i had to go back and get it. When i saw the random doctor assigned to me, i went there saying what was wrong with me, (in this case it was major nose blockage, not runny tho, thinking it was an allergy). I told him what was wrong, and he told me(all though i had a hard time understanding him because he didnt speak any english) to see the nose "specialist". Nose specialist? sheesh. i came in there looking for something to clear my allergies, not go to a nose specialist on the other side of the island. At the end of the session, he didnt perscribe me anything, he just gave me a piece of paper as a referral. THen i spoke up, eh yo, ummm i need something for my nose now. He shrugged. I said why dont you give me allegra, something my friend told me to try because it worked on her well. He was like ok, you can try that. He then gives me the perscription for that medication. I was like WTH. You should have given SOMETHING to me without me asking. I then asked him if anything would be better for my situation? he was like no. im like ok. I go out to the pharmacy. Sticker shock. The thirty day supply is almost 90 dollars. I almost cried. i asked for alternatives. THey said i should try Flownaise. I went back down to my doctor and mentioned it to him. He was like ok, u wanna try that? with NO hesitation . He gave me the perscription for that too. I sit here with my nose better, and i ask, is it just Kaiser, or is there just a massive lack of "care" of patients in all the HMO type plans. I mean, i was with blue cross blue shield a year ago, and they seemed to care about my health ahell of a lot more than these kaiser guys do.

*sigh*

Maybe my idea of actually health "care" is my fantasy, but i could have sworn it was better when i was under my parents blue cross plan.
ideas/thoughts?

 

[bunker]

If it's allergies, then you should seen an Allergist.

The general practicioner (internest) is like a jack-of-all trades, master of none. He is able to recognize a problem but will refer you to a specialist when it is necessary. If you believe it is allergies, then you should go to an allergist and find out what you are allergic to. In my opinion it was irresponsible of that doctor to perscribe you allegra simply because you asked for it.

That's how managed health care (HMO's) work. You go see your primary care physician and if it's something they can't take care of, they send you to a specialist.

 

[Yo Ma Ma]

Do you have some sort of co-pay arrangement for the doctors? Usually it's not easy to get a referral like that, but perhaps if you are paying it all yourself along the way it's not so in your case.

The doctors usually have a good idea how much the medicines cost, tell them cost is an issue and they will either try to prescribe something that has a generic or perhaps just get very generous with the samples. Flonase is still pretty expensive too isn't it? It does seem to work well for allergies though.

The cost of some medicines is just staggering.

 

[sgopal2]

Not all primary care doctors are that pathetic.

The first guy you saw at Kaiser should have been better. I would suggest that you ask around and see who are the better docs and go to them first....chances are that they will be booked solid.

HMO docs incentives are based on NOT seeing the patient. They typically lose money the more times an HMO patient comes to see them, thats why he was so happy to give you whatever you wanted.

HMOs svck.