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Every large insurer has its share of problems and Kaiser Permanente is no exception. As the largest HMO in California, the company has been criticized for handling claims too slowly and for hiring doctors that aren’t quite up to par. However, experts are now saying that Kaiser has changed some of these practices – for the better.

We asked Jeff Milman, a member of the Advocate Law Group Network who has been practicing law for over 25 years, specializes in medical negligence and who has handled many cases against Kaiser, how the company has changed. “Their practices have changed in two basic respects. When I first started practicing these many years ago, it would be near impossible to get a case to finished arbitration with Kaiser.”

“What some people don’t know is that you do not get a jury trial when you bring a claim against Kaiser; you have to abide by an arbitration proceeding. The delays were so egregious that eventually our Supreme Court in California in a case called Engalla told Kaiser that, “If you continue this practice, people will be able to go outside of the arbitration system and sue you in open court.”

“So, Kaiser revamped the way its system of legal proceedings. They set up an Office of the Independent Administrator, which is basically a department that handles these cases. Now, they are much more aggressive at bringing any claims to fruition by setting dates and deadlines and getting these cases through its system.”

A higher quality of doctors

Kaiser has also improved the quality of the medical staff they hire. According to Milman, Kaiser had a real problem in this area in years past. “Kaiser, at one point, had a bad reputation for hiring a lot of foreign doctors, some who couldn’t speak English, some who were ill-trained and some who came from other states where they weren’t able to practice medicine there.”

“In the past decade, Kaiser has done an excellent job of recruiting some very young dedicated physicians and also bringing in some very well-credentialed physicians. If you’re a physician getting out of medical school and looking at the prospect of setting up a rather costly private practice, sometimes a Kaiser-like system has a lot of advantages, where basically all of your administration is taken care of. You see a certain number of patients, and while you may not make as much, your quality of life may be different.”