Speaking of Fking worthless, Kaiser Permanente’s website features lots of helpful information about how homeopathy can cure your ills. For instance, if you’ve got the flu, doses of homeopathic arsenic, aconitum* and poison ivy are just what the pseudo-doctor ordered.
There are similar nonsense-filled pages on homeopathic remedies for other afflictions (none apparently for Covid-19, an unfortunate oversight).
*a deadly poison, though in homeopathic dilutions there are unlikely to be any molecules of the “active” ingredient.
Technically, they had their fingers crossed (so it doesn’t count):
Last Review: 10-31-2012
The information presented here is for informational purposes only and was created by a team of US–registered dietitians and food experts. Consult your doctor, practitioner, and/or pharmacist for any health problem and before using any supplements, making dietary changes, or before making any changes in prescribed medications. Information expires December 2020.
Yeah. Nice. The ‘this information is also dated and expired’ thing is a really nice touch.
My wife used to have Kaiser. Hated it. Everything required a referral. Nothing was ever just “This is my problem.” “Okay go here.” It was always “This is my problem.” “Great! Fill out these 20 forms, make an appointment with this specialist, this specialist, and this specialist, and once you’ve seen all of them, and after you’ve seen all the other people they refer you to, we’ll get right on that problem!”
Fuck that noise. They’re clearly just self-generating revenue.
I put her on my insurance last year (Blue Cross/Blue Shield). It’s not perfect, but at least you can just look up any doctor in the system and make an appointment directly without having to jump through 80 arbitrary hoops first.
In the mid 1980s, there was an up-and-coming HMO in Iowa called SHARE. I heard all the referral horror stories about them, too.
One time, while signing up for benefits at a new job, the HR director talked about how he had SHARE and all the problems that went along with it. Someone else actually verbalized what I was thinking ("Why do you use this plan?) and he replied, “Primary care doctor visits are free, and I have two preschool-aged children.” They have to rope 'em in somehow, I guess.
This is interesting. As somebody who has actually worked at almost all the hospitals listed by Stranger, from the provider side, there is good and bad to all the systems. It’s interesting to hear the patient side of things, as from the other side there has been such a huge push for “customer service” in medicine that it often feels like the providers are the ones who are at the mercy of ratings and 5 star reviews. I will say that in any healthcare system, there are both good and bad doctors, and that will probably be the number one factor in your perception of your healthcare. Not much we can do about that, but the number two factor is cost and that is something the US has screwed up.
I’d be hesitant to comment on anybody else’s healthcare experiences because so much goes into that, but it does sound like a change of PCP is indicated. Easier said than done, but sounds like this doc is not the right doc for you.
Meh, I expect some docs in a system will be better than others; it’s HMO’s I hate. I couldn’t go to a specialist without calling my PCP’s office and having them make a referral that went through a third party clearinghouse for approval. When I needed specialized cancer treatment that wasn’t available locally, the approval process took weeks–a real issue when time was of the essence.
I know two people in California who have Kaiser and are very happy with it, BUT they’re healthy and have never required specialized care. Healthy people who seldom need medical services are, ISTM, more likely to be happy with their health insurance/HMO no matter how crappy it is.
Having a PCP as the “gatekeeper” to specialty care is a mixed good. As a specialist, I get self referrals all the time for conditions that are most appropriately handled by a PCP. Due to being a hospital associated academic specialist, I cost more to see, tests that are done at my facility cost more, and patients who really do need my specialty services have to wait longer to get a first appointment or follow up. On the flip side, people who are being treated by a PCP who maybe has a little too much confidence in his/her knowledge may be mismanaged until I see them. Overall I find the number of PCPs who tend to over-refer outnumbers by a large margin the mismanaged ones.
I should add that that what I say here is in no way reflecting on the OP’s situation.