Kaiser Permanente Interstate Medical Office South

HMO HELL. 5 months to get anew hip. a month to see an orthopedist. HELL! In November, I seem to have convinced them that doing the hip within a couple of month might preserve what sanity I have left (after a year of dealing with this). So I’m scheduled for Monday. I have had to go to so many information sessions and classes etc. Not once did anyone assess my knowledge to see if I already know what’s up. Not once.

I’m a little shocked by the other reviews. One person gave them 2 stars but said the best things about the doctor/​staff/​experience, others are more upset about billing and insurance stuff. I went to this urgent care and had an amazing experience. First I got approached by someone because I was just wondering the halls not knowing where to go. She checked me and then yes there was a wait, I came went there for my eye and I wasn’t going blind so I expect that everyone who is sicker would go first (I’d hope so because if I’m really sick I don’t wanna wait outside). I got seen by a nurse who was unbelievably kind and the doctor promptly followed. Instead of just throwing antibiotics my way he asked me a ton of questions, examined me, reassured me and I totally trusted him and he was right it went away on its own. So that’s the kind of health care I want and expect and I’m very grateful for them being there.

Was injured at work, and have dealt with Rachel Fischer (who rocks) at occupational health in Beaverton, the ED at the new Hillsboro location, (Cara and Liz were fantastic!) The orthopedic dept at interstate south; (Anne, Brian, and Todd Blakey are awesome) and all of My visits have been prompt, professional and the team that kaiser has going has restored my faith in healthcare. Then again, I wasn’t with kaiser. Keep up the good work guys! Thank you!

I am writing this review because I keep telling myself how much I miss Kaiser now that I have a different insurance. I’m a gal who’s utilized many services at Kaiser over the period of five years: urgent care, primary care, gynecology, neurology, physical therapy, mental health, and optometry. I never had issues with scheduling, billing, or quality of service. I’m in my 20’s but I’ve clearly had plenty of reasons to use my healthcare insurance. I really think the interstate branch deserves an excellent score. My experience was life changing and convenient. Nothing like what I get now. No place is perfect but this place is pretty great.

Horrible. These people are shamefully incompetent. Rude office staff, dirty waiting room, random billings, bad experience all around. BEWARE!

They are getting two stars because if you have a serious and obvious problem, Kaiser is a good place to go. And our kids’ pediatrician is a saint. Otherwise, they’d get ½ star.
HOWEVER — our insurance changed so that we have both Blue Cross/​Blue Shield, and Kaiser. Absolutely screaming nightmare. They won’t work together, or even talk to each other. So Kaiser billed BC/​BS $ 2000+ dollars to vaccinate our kids, and BC/​BS refused to pay because my husband and I have different last names, which must mean we are divorced (according to BC/​BS), and so they were waiting on a copy of the divorce decree before they would pay. (All this without actually telling anybody anything about why they won’t pay.) After a year of fighting with both companies, we got it settled and Kaiser paid from money that BC/​BS sent us. (They won’t send money to Kaiser directly.) At some point, Kaiser turned us over to collections for the $ 2000+ for the vaccinations. Now (a year after it has all been settled) we got a call from a collections agency. No one at the collections agency or Kaiser can tell us why we are being harassed, or why we owe them money, when everything was settled, but «it is up to us to prove that we don’t owe them any money.» Quoi!?!
So my basic take on Kaiser:
The employees and the doctors will try to get you off their desks as fast as possible. If you have a medical problem, the doctor (or equivalent) is going to guess and punt and send you on to someone else as quickly as possible. They really don’t care if they mis-​diagnose you — they just want you to be someone else’s problem. And if you have a paperwork issue, the same goes. You’ll get continuously forwarded to other people who don’t call you back. And no one knows anything.
It’s really a shame. They seem to have no system of rewards or benefits for doing a good job, so the goal is to get rid of patients/​clients as quickly as possible.
Ok — I’m changing this to 1 star. The negatives are just too strong. We are going to get rid of Kaiser ASAP. And we are getting rid of Blue Cross as well.

Avoid Kaiser Permanente at all cost. Unilocal wouldn’t let me NOT give at least one star, otherwise I would have given it none. I go there because it is the health insurance my employer offers, but as much as I love my job I will leave in a heartbeat if someone offers me decent health benefits. HMOs are anathema to healthcare. They lose money if they spend too much time on you, so they don’t. And god forbid you have a chronic health issue or worse, require pain medication. You will be treated like a criminal on probation if you need medication to manage your pain. This is not hyperbole: they will make you pee in a cup to get you medication. Kaiser is an evil example of an evil business model. As soon as Obamacare goes into full swing I will be shopping for a decent PPO.

Is this a medical center or an airport? I feel like I became a number just walking through the door. The people who work here are super helpful but the way the building is set up, your card is scanned before people will talk to you and the «waiting rooms» look like gate G3 I feel like I’m in A Brave New World.

You are like all my relationships.
you’re convenient. thank you.
you are pleasant and organized and I learn from those aspects or characters that offer knowledge, because you provide kindness. But, and there is always a big but in my relationships. You creep me out. You make me feel like I’m in the suburbs: everything in its place neatly and perfectly placed. This makes me feel like I’m generic. Like I’m just another little ant marching along. But even every little ant contributes to the game, and I can’t say I add anything or contribute anything but a dollar in the bucket of your love that a buck won’t buy much of anyhow
What you say in order for me to qualify for a serious need I must also jump through hoops made of fire that I can only get through a mote of mud.sigh. ok I will do it, because if I didn’t have you, I would have to have sex with strangers. what? I mean I will have to go to the ER every time I need something and pay up the ass for it.
My employer offers me Kaiser, so I’m lucky I even have insurance considering the state we are currently in and will then soon be in if we don’t have insurance.
Thank you, as long as I’m a college girl you’ll pay for my health, that’s the kinda security my mom cares about so even though I don’t love you, it doesn’t matter, you’re convenient in ways I couldn’t afford otherwise. because you can’t live off love.

What can I tell you, Kaiser is the devil I know. I can appreciate the level of frustration associated with HMOs, but I was a Kaiser baby and will probably be with them from cradle to grave.
I’ve been to the Interstate offices many times over the years because it is one of the largest in Portland and has many specialty clinics and services that aren’t available at other regional medical offices.
My latest visit was to Urgent Care, because at 9:00p on a Friday night it is the only place open. That was a bit of a shocker. Apparently Jail is to Prison as Urgent Care is to the Emergency Room. So, if you aren’t seriously messed up, you get punted to Urgent Care at Interstate which is a LONG drive from West Linn.
I always go into Kaiser managing my expectations and planning accordingly. My packing list for this little excursion included: iPod, Nintendo DS, books, magazines, water bottles, snacks and blankets. Things started off well with the receptionist who gamely grabbed a wheelchair for my son when she saw me piggy backing him down the hallway. We were seen immediately by the triage nurse with only a short wait in reception. Then it was a LONG wait in the room — you know you kinda get your hopes up to be seen quickly when you make it to the room.
But we had a minor injury so I’m sure that anyone with something more significant jumped ahead of us in line. So I got to have a long, sleepy talk with my son who was a trouper through the whole experience. We also had an epic battle of rock-​paper-​scissors. He ended up being disappointed that he didn’t need stitches or ‘walking sticks’. Every person we saw was kind, compassionate and funny.
Don’t hate the playa, hate the game.