Health Experts Criticize Kaiser Transplant Situation
Some health care experts believe problems involving Kaiser Permanente's kidney transplant program could point to "deeper rifts" within the Oakland-based HMO "and serious oversight issues that management must address," the San Francisco Business Times reports.
Kaiser announced the closure of its kidney transplant unit in Northern California earlier this month after a number of problems with the program were disclosed.
Peter Lee -- CEO of the Pacific Business Group on Health, which represents many large employers in the region -- said the "apparent systems flaw" related to the kidney transplant program "raises the question if there are other areas where there are quality-control systems that are not in place."
Experts also say doctors in the Permanente Medical Group -- the Kaiser Northern California for-profit medical group affiliate -- should be held more accountable for problems in the program.
Kaiser Northern California spokesperson Rick Malaspina said that concerns over quality and management problems are "confined to the kidney transplant program" and that Kaiser has "reviews underway to address those issues and concerns" (Rauber, San Francisco Business Times, 5/19).