About Kaiser Permanente Pharmacy
Kaiser Permanente Pharmacy is a large health maintenance organization with multiple locations in California. While it has a strong presence in the state, some patients have expressed concerns about its operations. One common issue is short staffing, which can lead to delays and inefficiencies. Patients have reported long wait times for appointments, lab tests, and prescriptions. Additionally, there seems to be a disconnect between different departments, leading to communication breakdowns. Some patients have also expressed frustration with the scheduling process and the lack of specialized care in certain locations. On the other hand, many patients have praised the quality of care provided by Kaiser Permanente's medical professionals, including doctors and nurses. The short stay surgical unit, in particular, has received high marks for its excellent care and bedside manner. Overall, while Kaiser Permanente Pharmacy has some areas for improvement, its medical staff is dedicated to providing good care to its patients.
Kaiser bumping up their game in many ways. The pharmacy is definitely one. I don't dread going. I do go early morning to get er done before everyone else gets there. 😊Great job Team Kaiser
Kaiser Permanente is probably the largest HMO (health maintenance organization) in California. I could be wrong, but it feels like they have offices in just about every major city in the Central Valley and Bay Area. I'm not sure about Southern CA but I'm sure they have a strong presence there as well. With seemingly very deep pockets (Their ads are all over the TV) it seems like they are lacking in many aspects of the healthcare profession. Let me start with just some basic observations... Short Staffed #1 They always seem to be short staffed at just about every position you can think of. Checking in early it seems you'll find a check in clerk wandering in either really late or abnormally early with no sense of urgency. I've seen lab tech workers check people in when their primary job should be drawing blood and other tests...Weird! Really Short Staffed #2 Their access to doctors seems to be really thin. Get an appointment within a 30 day window (in person) and consider yourself lucky. Again, the general practitioner could be trying to service a high patient to doctor ratio which could be very unfair to the doctor and patient and yet would allow for saving Kaiser money by not hiring another half dozen doctors to increase accessibility for patients AND decrease the case load for the GP. Communication #3 At times it seems there is a disconnect between the GP and the specialty departments. I have seen some communication with X-Ray / Imaging and my personal doctor and the email correspondence seems to be disconnected. I was supposed to get a specialized scan and there seemed to be a disagreement on what showed up on my test to qualify for the next test. Leadership #4 I've heard verbal complaints out in the open about who was covering what shift and who was supposed to be working on certain dates. Geez, it reminded me of staffing when I was in high school. I mean, sure if you work for the Golden Arches and you're a teenager, maybe you have a hot date or something and want a certain day off but seriously? This is professional health care and your schedule is the last thing a patient wants to hear when you are supposed to be their primary focus. The focus shouldn't be on why Steve got the weekend off while you are supposed to be monitoring vitals. Who is running the scheduling department? These conversations shouldn't happen, and if they do it should be behind closed doors. Facilities #5 This facility should have expanded to be a fully operational hospital by now! It's a shame that we Stocktonians spend a lot of time driving to Manteca or Modesto for specialized care. Kaiser has agreements with Stockton Unified and I'm sure many other school districts. They should have enough revenue to build a facility to expand services in our County. I know for a fact that one special machine used for taking a scan is in Modesto and is shared between Stockton and as far south as Fresno. Imagine that! We are competing for one machine with a town 122 miles away. There is another machine in Sacramento and another in the Bay Area but they don't want you to get in line at those facilities since they are probably overbooked as well. All Things Considered Ok, so after slamming Kaiser I have to say when you get into the place that is supposed to take care of you the people are good at what they do. My GP is amazing and when I finally get into the door to see her I feel so good about her analysis and direction regarding my health. The podiatry department is excellent although there is some room for improvement regarding the transition to physical therapy. I think PT was delayed too far out but then again they are the professional and you have to respect their call regardless of how eager you are to get back up to speed. In general, overall care has been adequate. However,I can see how their limited staffing and inefficiency in providing timely care could be of serious consequence to the elderly population. If they could cut back on the "Thrive" advertising campaign and redirect that fun
The Technician was friendly and helpful but there is always a wait to put in your order and 30 minutes to an hour wait for just one prescription. They need to open their 3rd floor pharmacy again.....