Another happy Kaiser customer. We have been with them for over 30 years. Our son went through all the childhood stuff with them. He had surgery for a compound leg fracture at the Tysons facility (which is big and modern). My husband and I have not had major life threatening issues, but I was sent out of house to an infertility specialist and for two surgeries. Kaiser spared no expense for those things. They are convenient. I like their help line and the fact that they have emergency hours in Falls Church and Woodbridge. We have used both places.

We tried Kaiser last year, there was good and bad but we are back to Carefirst.

Good: I had a great PCP. Had a colonoscopy and no complaints on that. Everything in one place is nice, except that the one place is a little out of my way.

I need better mental health support. I hated my Kaiser psychiatrist and was not able to get a regular therapist last year.

My DH needs "boutique" physical therapy for the sports injuries he regularly incurs, and he could not reliably get that with Kaiser.

Another happy Kaiser member here. Kaiser is really good at wellness, preventative care, pregnancy, and sick kids. They are also good at severe illness so long as it's not an unusual illness.

I have been referred out to specialists, both in and outside Kaiser. When my DD cut her face, we went to Kaiser urgent care and they brought in a plastic surgeon to sew it up. When same DD had an unrelated urgent care visit that could have been appendicitis (it wasn't) they called Children's Hospital and had a bed ready for us by the time we arrived, no waiting. In both cases we paid only the visit copay.

They are not good at unusual stuff like PP's spider bite. They are trained to assume it's the most common issue and start with the most commonly effective treatment. Dr. House does not work there.

They also are not good at mental health -- no insurer is, but they are particularly bad.

And they don't do a la carte care, which IMO is where most of the complaints come from. Either they think your treatment is justified and it's completely covered -- or they think it's not justified and you can't get it. You can't pay out of pocket for an MRI when you tweak your knee. If your TSH is in the upper range of normal, it's normal and you aren't getting thyroid meds. If your kid has a kinda flat head but not too flat, you can't get one of those helmets covered. And so on. A lot of people in this area are used to paying for what they want and it frustrates them that Kaiser doesn't work that way.

Anonymous wrote:Great to hear all these perspectives. I'm interested in the comment about mental health. My spouse has recently been diagnosed with bipolar after being near an unusual, violent episode at work a year ago and then a really exciting work experience right after that. (It's an odd situation... never had signs of bipolar before that but definitely had a manic episode following these 2 unusual experiences). Anyway, we're not happy with the current psychiatrist, but it sounds like Kaiser might not be an improvement if you have mental health concerns to keep an eye on.

We have Kaiser and pay for therapy out of pocket and we still come out ahead financially. I can echo pp about getting to see a dermatologist when a pediatrician is concerned. Our doctor saw a mole she didn’t like on DD, made a phone call and we went up stairs, got seen immediately, and then returned to pediatrics for her shots.

Anonymous wrote:Great to hear all these perspectives. I'm interested in the comment about mental health. My spouse has recently been diagnosed with bipolar after being near an unusual, violent episode at work a year ago and then a really exciting work experience right after that. (It's an odd situation... never had signs of bipolar before that but definitely had a manic episode following these 2 unusual experiences). Anyway, we're not happy with the current psychiatrist, but it sounds like Kaiser might not be an improvement if you have mental health concerns to keep an eye on.

Hmm I was the one that posted about mental health not being their major strength. It’s hard to know. I will say that my husband has well controlled depression/anxiety and it’s been totally fine for him - easy to get meds, access to a therapist when he needs it and he did one group. But most therapists there don’t have say, weekly appointments available so it kind of depends on the level of care and how much choice you feel you need. I think it’s hard to access mental health care no matter what insurance you have (even if your insurance typically covers any in network or out of network therapist it doesn’t mean they will have availability for example) and Kaiser does do a good job in the sense that you don’t need a referral, you can just call the line to make an appointment. So if you’re wife’s illness has been well controlled with medicine it may be fine, but I was just pointing out that I pretty much rave about most things about Kaiser I wouldn’t say their mental health options are far and above other insurance options and it does have the downside of slightly less choice at least in theory of what provider

Great to hear all these perspectives. I'm interested in the comment about mental health. My spouse has recently been diagnosed with bipolar after being near an unusual, violent episode at work a year ago and then a really exciting work experience right after that. (It's an odd situation... never had signs of bipolar before that but definitely had a manic episode following these 2 unusual experiences). Anyway, we're not happy with the current psychiatrist, but it sounds like Kaiser might not be an improvement if you have mental health concerns to keep an eye on.

Anonymous wrote:I had Kaiser when I was younger and the only thing they coordinated was everything was in the same building. Other than that it’s like any other doctor office. They’re okay for routine things but if god forbid someone in your family got really sick, like cancer, it’ll be difficult and expensive to see out of network top notch specialists.

Funny you mention cancer.

Older sibling just had a single mastectomy at the Kaiser hospital near Baltimore.

The good: no complications; the surgeon seemed competent; follow up radiation treatments seemed to go well.

The bad: communication with her (patient) and us (family caregivers) was abysmal.

I find it amusing they emphasize “holistic” when it was precisely the overall organization that we found lacking.

As in: the different parts of Kaiser did not seem to work well together.

It hasn't been perfect for us (hard to schedule a D&C after a miscarriage, for example) but having all the records in one place, being able to schedule everything online, and having 24-hour urgent care with labs and pharmacies has been great. Some doctors are better than others--my wife loved her PCP, who has since retired, but our current ones are meh. Dermatologist and gyn and optometrist were all very nice. Loved one pediatrician but went to a less good one first. When inpatient care was needed we didn't get pressure for a quick discharge so I appreciated that. We save enough by using Kaiser and have enough medical expertise in our extended family/friend network that if some uncommon or life-threatening condition did come up, we could pay to have the file reviewed by someone out of network if needed and then discuss a treatment protocol with the Kaiser folks. It's not perfect for every situation but I plan to stay on it for the foreseeable future!

Add us to the list of families happy with Kaiser. Our family of five switched to Kaiser a few years ago and I think it is the best insurance we have ever had. The doctors are incredibly thorough and kind and the coordinated care is SO convenient. Luckily, we haven't had any major health issues but we have had a few scares and we received very thorough testing and excellent care. I especially love the convenience, the ease of making and getting appointments, and the communication not only between us and our doctors but also the doctors with each other.

Our DC was recently sick and ended up at Urgent Care in serious pain in her abdomen with a swollen liver and spleen. Being able to get all of her lab work and imaging done in one place made things so much easier for us. In addition, the urgent care docs were able to talk to her pediatrician and a hematologist. It turned out to be a severe case of mono and she is fine but she went in for several days to be reevaluated and to get IV fluids. The doctors were so incredibly patient with a worried mom and scared sick teen. I am so thankful this didn't happen under our old insurance. I can't imagine all the running around I would have to have done.

The convenience of Kaiser is one of the things I love most about it. We typically go to the Falls Church location. In that building, you can take your kids to a pediatrician, have your eyes examined, get a colonoscopy/endoscopy, have a mammogram or an ultrasound, go to a lab, see a psychiatrist (and a child psychiatrist), go to the pharmacy, and see your primary care doctor. The Tysons location is even bigger and I've had a small outpatient surgery there, visited urgent care, and have had CT-Scan and MRI there.

And finally, the communication is excellent. It's easy to make appointments and correspond with your doctors. Lab results come back quickly and are shared with you right away. Sometimes I have seen the tests before the doctors (I bet the doctors probably don't love this feature).

I was reluctant to move to Kaiser but everyone I spoke with who had it loved it and now I know why. Sometimes I get the feeling that other doctors look down on it, but our experience has been very positive.

Anonymous wrote:We've had great experiences with Kaiser.

Their urgent care in Tysons is amazing. We had a very sick kid and she was seen then the moment we arrived at 3 AM, got a chest xray 20 minutes later, and we were out the door with prescriptions in hand within an hour. It was amazing.

We've also had great luck getting seen by specialists. My husband fell down the stairs and hurt his elbow. He went to his PCP the next day, who then sent him to xray and then upstairs to see the orthopedist. He was sorted with a diagnosis and a brace within 2 hours.

My 1 yo wasn't talking yet at her 12 MO appointment. Her pediatrician called over to the ENT department and they agreed to see her right away. They did a full hearing work up and, because she wasn't being cooperative, we had two audiologists working with her. They were amazing and we had our answers that morning.

I've also had great luck with the nurses line when things get passed around our house. If one person has pink eye or step and is diagnosed, they're okay to provide prescriptions for other members of the house without seeing us again with consistent symptoms. Telehealth is also great. They diagnosed my 5 yo with chicken pox during covid without us being seen in person.

We also love our pediatrician. She spends tons of time with us at appointments and really knows our kids, providing great pragmatic advice. We've been seeing her for 7 years now and won't leave Kaiser just to keep her.

I have had a few doctors who weren't great, but Kaiser makes it easy to switch. We just move on and try someone else. (Prior to Kaiser I certainly had doctors I didn't like as well.)

+1 to all of this. Tysons urgent care is awesome - it's like a mini hospital in what they can do, but you're seen quickly and it's always a decent experience. I had a serious stomach bug that wouldn't quit, went there and they took such kind care of me, gave me an IV, etc. AND they often have an actual pediatrician on staff which isn't the case at most urgent cares. so when my kids go in we see an actual pediatrician. There has only been one time this wasn't the case, so the dr called the on call pediatrician at INOVA to discuss my baby's case.

8:34 poster and just coming on to add another way Kaiser makes my life easier. At our yearly pediatrician appointment on Friday, our ped put in a referral for dermatology just to be extra cautious with a skin thing my son had. On Monday morning I got a call from Kaiser asking if I wanted to schedule the appointment. So instead of me having to remember to figure out the referral, where to call, make the call etc, they just CALL YOU. So great. They offered me an appointment that day, which was pretty amazing (we didn't need it that quickly so did it later in the week, but just for reference).

kaiser, like most insurance is NOT as good with mental health. THey try, and as a mental health professional myself - it's not perfect anywhere, but it can leave a little to be desired as it can take awhile to get an appointment, etc. But they do run a lot of groups which can be helpful. but if you have a kid with serious mental health needs, I would give yourself a little more choice. But one of my children has ADHD and we have stayed with Kaiser because the benefits outweigh the negatives.

We've had great experiences with Kaiser.

Their urgent care in Tysons is amazing. We had a very sick kid and she was seen then the moment we arrived at 3 AM, got a chest xray 20 minutes later, and we were out the door with prescriptions in hand within an hour. It was amazing.

We've also had great luck getting seen by specialists. My husband fell down the stairs and hurt his elbow. He went to his PCP the next day, who then sent him to xray and then upstairs to see the orthopedist. He was sorted with a diagnosis and a brace within 2 hours.

My 1 yo wasn't talking yet at her 12 MO appointment. Her pediatrician called over to the ENT department and they agreed to see her right away. They did a full hearing work up and, because she wasn't being cooperative, we had two audiologists working with her. They were amazing and we had our answers that morning.

I've also had great luck with the nurses line when things get passed around our house. If one person has pink eye or step and is diagnosed, they're okay to provide prescriptions for other members of the house without seeing us again with consistent symptoms. Telehealth is also great. They diagnosed my 5 yo with chicken pox during covid without us being seen in person.

We also love our pediatrician. She spends tons of time with us at appointments and really knows our kids, providing great pragmatic advice. We've been seeing her for 7 years now and won't leave Kaiser just to keep her.

I have had a few doctors who weren't great, but Kaiser makes it easy to switch. We just move on and try someone else. (Prior to Kaiser I certainly had doctors I didn't like as well.)

My ILs have Kaiser on Medicare, and I've come to be impressed with their model. They can usually get into a doctor in a few days and have tons of specialists. Bc everyone is on the same network, all the medical files and records are shared. They go to Tysons and Falls Church a lot, but have gone to other Kaiser centers as needed. They have no complaints about their care.

I find that I spend so much time calling one of my doctors to ask them to send results to another and so on. It would be so much easier to manage if everyone was starting from the same baseline. And no more filling out health histories every.single.appointment.

We also love Kaiser and our experience with the drs has been overall very very positive - also disagree with that pp (couldn't make it through their post I'll be honest, so I don't know the whole story but disagree with that the drs are poor). My husband's family has had Kaiser for literally 30 years and have been overall happy. Husband had it while in college - I agree it's not the EASIEST, but I think he just had most appts while home which frankly most college students do anyway and otherwise they just use the student health center for quick things.

I do feel it's much more connected than other care. For example, when my son was having persistent ear infections, the pediatrician picked up the phone while in the appointment with us to call upstairs and consult with the ENT. That has happened a couple times, where she will either email someone quickly or call to get their consult when we don't necessarily need a full appointment but she wants to kind of "check her thoughts" from someone more specialized in the area - seems like a great benefit. And when we need it she quickly makes a referral for us to see the specialist. It's true some of it is just that they ahve access to your file, but it just makes everything smoother. Most docs are also great at emailing which makes things so much easier.

I will say they also have been great with covid testing. It has been such a relief with young kids not to wonder where to go for a test. I also really really appreciate the urgent care system as a parent of young kids. I know it doesn't apply to you op but in case others read - it is so nice when needed to know exactly where the urgent care is, feel confident in it, know they will already have your child's records, etc. I'm not googling for the closest urgent care and reading reviews when I need something done quickly. And with covid we rarely go into the urgent care itself to be honest - they have tons of video appointments you can hop on to run things by someone. Nurses line is fine, nothing that helpful but it's good it's there.

Yes I really like Kaiser! I don't know how much doctors are talking about each patient, but my husband had his tonsils removed (great care and low copays) and then had some bleeding afterwards. We called the nurse line in the middle of the night and the on-call doctor in that specialty was able to look at his chart and give great immediate advice. Would repeat a lot of what PP said. I never have problem getting appointments - my doctors message me back right away. Love having most things all in one place. That is good to know about the contracts with specialist. I was able to get a referral to go with the Medstar Midwives for my pregnancies as well when I wanted midwifery care. Overall very happy with Kaiser.