Kaiser Beefs Up Mental Health Services
Under fire from both regulators and consumers for not providing enough mental health services, Kaiser Permanente this week has disclosed it has hired hundreds of professionals to address those needs in the past several years.
According to Kaiser, it has boosted the ranks of mental health therapists in California by 45%, the equivalent of 497 additional mental health therapists, including 411 staff hires and another 86 positions filled through joint ventures with therapists in private practice outside of the Kaiser system. Altogether, it has nearly 1,600 therapists statewide.
Kaiser said it intends to hire another 354 more mental health professionals before the end of 2015, including 100 psychiatrists, 150 psychologists or psychoterapists and 100 social workers. Kaiser is paying salaries between $89,500 to $135,000 for psychologists and $52,700 to $118,000 for psychotherapists and other mental health professionals.
“We believe that by paying our mental healthcare providers well, and working to advance mental health care, more of these professionals will be encouraged to consider careers at Kaiser,” said Kaiser spokesperson Marc Brown.
The company also announced that it was spending $115 million to refurbish at least 76 of its existing mental health clinics and build additional facilities.
“With the number of Americans seeking mental healthcare steadily rising, our nation is at risk of not having enough therapists to meet patients' needs," said Patrick Courneya, M.D., executive vice president and Kaiser's chief medical officer. "Kaiser Permanente is taking steps to ensure our members have access to the mental healthcare they need.”
In June 2013, the California Department of Managed Health Care fined Kaiser $4 million for mismanaging its mental health services. Its enrollees encountered long wait times to receive care, as well as misleading information suggesting that Kaiser would not pay for them to see individual therapists. The health plan's tracking and data system was also apparently riddled with inaccuracies. The fine was the second-largest ever issued by the agency.
Although Kaiser initially appealed the fine, it dropped its appeal in September of last year. However, Kaiser is also facing a class action lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court filed by enrollees and their family members claiming they were damaged by being denied mental health services. In some cases, the enrollees committed suicide as a result, the lawsuit claimed.
“I believed then, as I believe now, that if my husband had received appropriate and timely care from Kaiser he might well still be alive. We asked Kaiser for that care. I pleaded with Kaiser for that care. He did not receive it,” said Susan Futterman, lead plaintiff in the lawsuit. Her husband, Fred Paroutaud, had committed suicide after he was unable to receive timely care for his bipolar disorder, the lawsuit claimed.
Other plaintiffs in the class action also claimed that they were denied access to individualized therapy for their mental health woes and instead were enrolled in group therapy. Although a judge in the case recently denied Kaiser's motion to dismiss the litigation, it has yet to go to trial.
Kaiser spokersperson Marc Brown said currently that about 70% of the system’s therapy sessions are on an individual basis, excluding those enrolles in treatment for chemical dependency.
“It is...important to note that there is ample evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of group therapy for a wide range of mental health diagnoses,” Brown added.
