Kaiser Tries to Help Patients Through the Specialist Maze

Count Kaiser Permanente among those organizational elephants that want to tap-dance.

The nation’s largest health maintenance organization, whose local membership of 200,000 makes it the largest HMO operating in Orange County, aims to make it easier for patients to see a specialist.

Now, for instance, when a patient is referred to a specialist during a visit with the primary-care doctor, the primary doctor must book an appointment with a specialist before the patient leaves the office, says Dr. Kenneth Bell, the HMO’s medical director for Orange County. The appointment is made within two weeks--at a convenient time for the patient.

In the past, he says, patients booked their own appointments, often waiting for months to see a specialist at the doctor’s convenience.

With such changes in mind, the HMO recently reorganized the management of its various specialties, such as surgery, emergency medicine and psychiatry, so all now report to a management committee that’s supposed to improve coordination.

One result? During this season’s flu epidemic, which has caused patients to flood primary doctors’ offices, specialists have been required to pitch in and see more patients. Though specialists are griping, Bell insists doctors “realize that it’s our job to care for people.”

*

Barbara Marsh covers health care for The Times. She can be reached at (714) 966-7762 and at barbara.marsh@latimes.com.