Kaiser Doctor Blows Whistle on Patient Care
Kaiser Doctor Blows Whistle on Patient Care
LOS ANGELES (CN) - A doctor is suing Kaiser Permanente in state court claiming the nonprofit HMO fired her for complaining about patient care and blowing the whistle on Kaiser's "for-profit" agenda.
Barbara Zipkin, who had 30 years with Kaiser Foundation Hospitals as an OGBYN surgeon before being terminated, says hospital administrators retaliated against her following a meeting where she complained about inadequate staffing levels and substandard patient care due to inadequate examination time allotments.
Kaiser Permanente, one of the largest integrated managed care consortiums in the U.S., consists of three separate entities: Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Permanente Medical Groups and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals. Each independent Permanente Medical Group operates as a separate for-profit partnership and does not publicly disclose financial status, but is mainly funded by reimbursements from Kaiser Foundation Health Plan.
The doctor says in her court complaint that other doctors were refusing to see patients and that an increase in staff would result in "more time with patients and an emphasis on care and not profits."
http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/02/28/44256.htm
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