5 ms·

Some guy was telling me how IBM Watson was going to make healthcare more efficient by helping doctors make smart choices. I replied that that wasn't going to h

Some guy was telling me how IBM Watson was going to make healthcare more efficient by helping doctors make smart choices. I replied that that wasn't going to help profits, so it probably wouldn't be adopted. Hospitals and insurers really should be merged so the incentives are all properly aligned. Kaiser Permanente works this way and, IMHO, it's actually not that bad.

hkmurakami 9y ago
I always wonder why kp hasn't expanded more.
- DrScump 9y ago
  They've been doing a huge amount of infill in Northern California, replacing whole facilities with brand-new complexes in existing core patient areas. (One example is their Santa Clara facility, which replaced a predecessor less than a mile away with one maybe 5 times its size.) It must be an insane amount of capital expenditure.
  - hkmurakami 9y ago
    just passed by the SC facility (the one on Homestead?) and it did indeed look massive. Great to hear that they are expanding in their core practice and geographies. Hope they continue to do well.
    - DrScump 9y ago
      That new residential neighborhood on Kiely Boulevard across the street from Central Park is where the prior Kaiser medical center was, going back to at least the 1960s.
nl 9y ago
You way underestimate IBM sales staff. The real problem is that Watson doesn't work, and health care providers spent millions on it which could have gone to real, actual research. https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2017/02/19/md-anderson-benches-ibm-watson-in-setback-for-artificial-intelligence-in-medicine/#55d873273774 https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2017/02/19/md-and... https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbloomberg/2017/07/02/is-ibm-watson-a-joke/#51d87341da20 https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbloomberg/2017/07/02/is-ib... https://www.healthnewsreview.org/2017/02/md-anderson-cancer-centers-ibm-watson-project-fails-journalism-related/ https://www.healthnewsreview.org/2017/02/md-anderson-cancer-...
cobookman 9y ago
Kaiser's HMO is much worse than a PPO. It's not that great of care. Now compared to Medicare sure it's great.
- dingdongding 9y ago
  >Kaiser's HMO is much worse than a PPO. It's not that great of care. care to elaborate why?
  - cobookman 9y ago
    With a PPO I can go to whatever specialist I want. With Kaiser you are stuck with the specialists Kaiser directly employes. So if the Kaiser clinic by you is good then sure Kaiser is great. However if you ever want a second opinion or want to use a non Kaiser doctor your out of luck. A PPO plan offers you freedom to choose what doctors you see. It will also enable you to go straight to a specialist without your general practitioners consent. Obviously Kaiser is cheaper than the PPO plans.

hkmurakami 9y ago

I always wonder why kp hasn't expanded more.

DrScump 9y ago
They've been doing a huge amount of infill in Northern California, replacing whole facilities with brand-new complexes in existing core patient areas. (One example is their Santa Clara facility, which replaced a predecessor less than a mile away with one maybe 5 times its size.) It must be an insane amount of capital expenditure.
- hkmurakami 9y ago
  just passed by the SC facility (the one on Homestead?) and it did indeed look massive. Great to hear that they are expanding in their core practice and geographies. Hope they continue to do well.
  - DrScump 9y ago
    That new residential neighborhood on Kiely Boulevard across the street from Central Park is where the prior Kaiser medical center was, going back to at least the 1960s.

nl 9y ago

You way underestimate IBM sales staff. The real problem is that Watson doesn't work, and health care providers spent millions on it which could have gone to real, actual research. https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2017/02/19/md-anderson-benches-ibm-watson-in-setback-for-artificial-intelligence-in-medicine/#55d873273774 https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2017/02/19/md-and... https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbloomberg/2017/07/02/is-ibm-watson-a-joke/#51d87341da20 https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbloomberg/2017/07/02/is-ib... https://www.healthnewsreview.org/2017/02/md-anderson-cancer-centers-ibm-watson-project-fails-journalism-related/ https://www.healthnewsreview.org/2017/02/md-anderson-cancer-...

cobookman 9y ago

Kaiser's HMO is much worse than a PPO. It's not that great of care. Now compared to Medicare sure it's great.

dingdongding 9y ago
>Kaiser's HMO is much worse than a PPO. It's not that great of care. care to elaborate why?
- cobookman 9y ago
  With a PPO I can go to whatever specialist I want. With Kaiser you are stuck with the specialists Kaiser directly employes. So if the Kaiser clinic by you is good then sure Kaiser is great. However if you ever want a second opinion or want to use a non Kaiser doctor your out of luck. A PPO plan offers you freedom to choose what doctors you see. It will also enable you to go straight to a specialist without your general practitioners consent. Obviously Kaiser is cheaper than the PPO plans.