Opioids How does kaiser permanente control pain

[bennyZA]

Does anyone have experience with Kaiser and pain control. I've heard that they prescribe pk's like candy. I've also heard that they will prescribe hydro like candy but nothing else... basically I've heard a lot of rumors.

Does anyone have experience with pain management that goes through Kaiser?

and yes... I did search for other threads about this...

 

[Captain.Heroin]

It depends which doctor you see; not so much what your insurance is.

 

[bennyZA]

Yea, this is my first time having my own insurance and the first time I'm on an HMO. I was told kaiser has very strict prescription guidelines and they have a "policy" but that they also like to addict you to low risk pain meds.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Kaiser is a different situation than most insurance as they typically own the clinics and hospitals a member is treated at and are directly the boss of the physician you see rather than the the indirect boss by being payee.

https://members.kaiserpermanente.org/kpweb/entryPage.do?cfe=226&rop=MRN
https://members.kaiserpermanente.or...feature/226pain/nat_pain_medications.html.xml

^The second link makes me think that they are not adverse to opiates and all the usual pain meds are within their formulary. No personal experience with kaiser here but friends with kaiser have not complained about inadequate pain management. I've heard a lot of complaints about how long it can take to get procedures or seeing a specialist though.

Even though Kaiser is more hands on then other HMOs in managing patient care from rules, formularies, etc Captain's point about individual Doctors being the primary determiner is still valid. Other HMOs get more and more Kaiser like all the time by my observation.