Moving to end some 50 years of tradition for Kaiser Permanente members in Southern California, the giant health plan said it will begin caring for some Kaiser patients in non-Kaiser hospitals.
Kaiser, which has long touted its tightly controlled network of doctors and hospitals as an alternative to other health plans, said it will likely reduce or eliminate inpatient surgery services at "several" of its 10 medical centers in the region. Those patients instead would be sent to community hospitals that meet Kaiser's quality standards, company officials said.
Oakland-based Kaiser, with about 2.2 million members in Southern California, has not decided which hospitals will be affected. A final decision won't be made for four to six months, officials said.
Kaiser members would continue to make office visits to Kaiser doctors at outpatient clinics at the 10 medical centers. Outpatient services will remain open--and may be expanded--at the 10 sites, even if inpatient and emergency room services are shuttered, Kaiser said.
If Kaiser members are sent to outside hospitals, they still would be treated by Kaiser doctors, officials said.
The changes have been anticipated for months as Kaiser has moved aggressively to cut costs in the face of tough competition from such rivals as CaliforniaCare, Health Net and PacifiCare. Kaiser's Southern California business plan calls for cutting hospitalizations by roughly 25% over the next three years and reducing expenses by roughly $800 million over five years.
Last month, Kaiser's 2.4-million-member Northern California region announced a similar reorganization that involved sending some Kaiser patients to other Bay Area hospitals.
In California, Kaiser has a long tradition of providing "integrated" medical services in which members get all their medical care from Kaiser doctors at Kaiser-owned hospitals and clinics. Outside this state, Kaiser often operates differently: It owns no hospitals in Texas and several other states, and its members are treated in local community hospitals.
A host of problems are behind the latest moves by Kaiser, the nation's largest health maintenance organization, with nearly 6.7 million members in 16 states. For one, Kaiser's greatest strength, its tightly integrated system, has also become a weakness in an intense market.
