Kaiser Permanente is grappling with double the number of new customers that the nonprofit health provider projected it would attract through Colorado’s health-coverage exchange this year.
To handle the surge in patients, Kaiser managers in Colorado have opened new clinics, are offering some evening hours and are hiring the equivalent of about 70 new providers and support staff.
Kaiser enrolled about 58,000 people — or nearly half of the customers who bought private insurance through the exchange, Connect for Health Colorado.
Kaiser spokeswoman Amy Whited said the nonprofit was expecting about 25,000 signups through the exchange and has seen an overall jump in customers this year of 15 percent to about 615,000 members.
As a result of the unexpectedly fast growth, phone banks were jammed at the beginning of the year, pharmacy lines at some clinics now stretch out the door during peak hours and Kaiser is using an all-hands-on-deck approach to ensure that patients get quality care quickly.
Managers are shuffling staffers to return calls fast, nurses are trying to solve problems for patients who can skip a visit and get help via email or over the phone, and some doctors who normally do research are covering clinic visits while managers work to recruit new providers.
Kaiser is not alone in grappling with an influx of new patients. Colorado’s Community Health Centers, which offer care to uninsured and low-income patients, have seen a dramatic increase in demand and are struggling to find enough providers to care for thousands of new Medicaid patients.
Date: July 02, 2014