Know your rights to access care in a timely manner at Kaiser: DMHC standards
I recently found this helpful, so I'd thought I'd share. I'm in Norcal and wanted to see a psychiatrist. My previous psychiatrist retired at the beginning of the year, and I received a letter from Kaiser stating I would be assigned a new one. Months later, no further updates.
I finally reached a point where I wanted to talk with someone about my medication, so I called the psychiatry department earlier this week to get assigned to a psychiatrist, and was told I would be a call back later that day. No call. So I called back the next day, and was forwarded to leave a message with the team. Still no call back. Today, I called in again and mentioned the DMHC standards for timely access to care: https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/doctors-locations/timely-access-to-scheduled-appointments
I mentioned it had been 5 business days since I first reached out and that to be compliant with the DMHC standards, I needed to be able to access an appointment within 15 business days (the amount for routine/non-urgent specialty care appointments). I left a message noting this and saying it had been my third time reaching out. Not even an hour later, I got a call back and I was able to get an appointment booked! (I booked one out a couple months, since I'm okay with waiting that long, but I wonder if I might have been able to push for something sooner if it was more urgent). It might be a coincidence that I got that call back, but I really don't think so. I've been a Kaiser member for years and didn't know about this until now. All patients should be aware of these guidelines so they can advocate for their own care.
I'll be remembering to use the magic words "DHMC standards for access to timely care" from now on.