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Prostate Cancer/Kaiser Permanente-Anyone?

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Posted 6/6/2021 3:10 AM (GMT 0)
Just curious if anyone here has gone through a course of Prostate C. treatment with KAISER P. insurance and what your experience/level of satisfaction was/is? I am being treated under their auspices now--seems OK but not too many of the newer 'cutting edge' procedures available. Maybe that's true for most treatment centers but what do I know. smile

PlatoK
Posted 6/6/2021 9:48 AM (GMT 0)
Plato, there have been a few guys who came here as Kaiser patients. Generally, what they have said is that their choices are VERY limited, multiple consultations are for practical purposes forbidden, and, you're right, the 'latest and greatest' are not even there.

My impression is that Kaiser uses some kind of decision tree or chart for their PCa patients, and they are told, "here's what we're going to do" and the patient has little input into the decision. For what it's worth, those treatments are generally well within standard of care, and patients have decent outcomes.

So, you might say, you take the good with the bad.
Posted 6/6/2021 1:18 PM (GMT 0)
Hi
I am a Kaiser member and had prostate cancer under their care. This was all 8 yeas ago so things may have changed since then. After diagnosis (G6 Biopsy) I was given a wide range of options, wait, radiation, open surgery and robotic surgery and so on. Me being DEAL WITH IT NOW kind of person chose robotic surgery. The follow up after surgery was minimal at best. Nurse pulled the catheter a week later. On the count of 3, One! Two! (PULL) Three! HEYYY!?!?!?. Bi-annual PSA tests after that.. No other followup

I did see a 3rd party radiologist before surgery and he knew the team at Kaiser and was confident in their ability to treat me.

In general, I was happy with the care and if I had cancer again would stay with Kaiser. But that's me. Best of luck
Posted 6/6/2021 6:12 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Plato, Although I have no experience with KP I did have experience with our BCBS Advantage plan in western PA. As I reviewed treatment options for my situation I wanted to talk with a RO who did SBRT. I could not find anyone routinely performing SBRT for PCa in the Pittsburgh area. I did find it in Cleveland; but, it involved going out of network and being seen at Cleveland Clinic (CCI). Initially that visit was refused. I found help at our BCBS provided in the way of a health care manager who walked us through the procedure to receive care out of network. The basis for my appeal was nothing more than no one locally offered SBRT for PCa. You probably have similar help at KP by simply calling their provider services number. It turned out well for our insurance provider as well since the cost of five SBRT fractions was significantly cheaper than forty five IMRT treatments offered and recommended locally. Good luck and keep us posted. Terry
Posted 6/7/2021 4:14 AM (GMT 0)
I've been with Kaiser in Oregon for about 4 years now and have nothing but good things to say about them.
After my DX, my urologist gave me a full list of what my options were, and also set up an appointment with a RO to get firsthand information about SBRT as well.
I chose SBRT and found their oncology department to be first rate. They use state of the art Varian TrueBeam machines.
All of the testing, scans, diagnostics, meds, etc were covered, and there were never any unexpected or additional charges.
And best of all, I was assigned a "nurse navigator" from the beginning, someone who could answer any questions I had. She was extremely knowledgeable about prostate cancer, and if there was something she couldn't answer, she would get the information from someone who could, and quickly. I had her direct number and every time I called, she picked up. No operator, no keypad prompts, it was simply her on the other end, each time. Very helpful and reassuring. She was also in direct contact with both my urologist and my RO, and was a great go-between for relaying information in the times that I wasn't communicating with them directly.
As a self-employed person, I've had many different health care providers, but I plan on staying with Kaiser now for the duration. They're great.
Posted 6/7/2021 3:00 PM (GMT 0)
I have been with Kaiser in California and Oregon since before my cancer diagnosis. I have found my oncologists to be competent, caring, understanding, and open minded. When I present with a new issue they are quick to provide a referral to the correct specialist. My treatment options included, surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, ADT, and Zytiga. They, like most medical facilities follow the standard of care as set forth by medicare, and, while they are not quick to try new options they continue to provide me with quality care during this cancer journey. They are actively involved in clinical trials, and my discussions with them about what's next usually centers around clinical trials. I am not there yet and hopefully wont be for a long time but it's good to know that trials are an option. Quite frankly, ADT and Zytiga are hard on ones body and the effects seem to accumulate over time so I am not sure if I will even want to consider a clinical trial when the time comes.
Posted 6/7/2021 5:05 PM (GMT 0)
I can not give an opinion at this moment since my first (phone) Kaiser appointment with an urologist is this afternoon at 4 pm PST. I just started with Kaiser in January. As my profile indicates (hopefully), I was treated under another Health Insurance with RP in 2008 and radiation in 2009. I was undetectable for almost 10 years until this month and my annual PSA came back as .2; I suspect a retest will be ordered.

So far my experiences with Kaiser have been very good but this will be a new chapter.

I wish you the very best and will follow your plans.

Take care,
Jake
Posted 6/11/2021 1:57 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you all for the great feedback on my Kaiser P. question. I have always been happy with Kaiser. This PCa. is the first serious medical issue I've had to deal with. I start radiation on June 21 so we'll see how that goes. Thanks again to everyone for your comments and good wishes. Same to you all!

PlatoK
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