Checking up on our doctors
Re “ ‘No one would listen,’ ” Oct. 16
I was sickened but not surprised to read about Dr. Hamid Safari’s “practice of medicine.” The public can learn about doctors on the state medical board’s website at medbd.ca.gov; click on “Check Your Doctor Online.” This was how I discovered that my husband’s cardiologist was on probation; we insisted that our health insurer transfer him to another doctor.
Tasneem Watts
Anaheim
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What is sad is that Safari is like so many other doctors: self-proclaimed experts who hide behind the reputation of others, their attorneys, well-funded insurance companies and highly compensated expert witnesses. It is not Kaiser alone that suffers from this malady. The average patient is not able to afford to expose all of the incompetent medical practitioners. The system cries out for help.
Bill Agopian
Cowan Heights
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The story is the latest in an ongoing series portraying Kaiser Permanente in a negative light. As a Kaiser Permanente physician, I see firsthand the excellent quality of care we provide to our members on a daily basis. I cannot recall the last time I read a positive story about our organization in The Times. When we commit to the costly deployment of one of the largest electronic medical record systems in the country to benefit our members, we are criticized by you unfairly. When we are compared quite favorably with other healthcare providers by independent national evaluators, nothing is written.
We do not claim to be perfect. However, we are committed to delivering the highest quality of care and access in a cost-effective manner. Kaiser Permanente should be the type of health plan you judge objectively, rather than publishing only negative stories (as exhibited by your track record).
Stephen Munz MD
Anaheim
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Your story about the Kaiser perinatologist in Fresno whose actions are questionable raises an important issue about the public’s right to know when medical staff or a health facility have a record of care that may be troublesome. This is why I wrote legislation in 2006 to reform the reporting and disclosure of hospital errors. As we debate healthcare reform, we need to remember that quality of care and consumer empowerment have to be top priorities. My legislation, which became law in 2007, takes a three-pronged approach to addressing hospital errors: All California hospitals are obligated to report to the state, within 48 hours, a suspicious death related to an urgent threat; the state must investigate an ongoing threat of imminent danger within 48 hours; and the state, by 2013, must post information about a hospital’s safety record online.
I hope that this new program will help prevent future deaths at California hospitals.
State Sen. Elaine
Alquist
(D-San Jose)
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Having gone through my own Kaiser nightmare recently, my prayers go out to Tanella Bessard. All the time dealing with Kaiser, I kept repeating, “Why won’t anyone listen to me?” My only solace: November is open-enrollment month, and I can choose another health insurance company.
Venida Korda
Van Nuys