Latest news with #KaiserPermanente
Reuters
3 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Kaiser Permanente says it is facing intermittent network disruptions
May 28 (Reuters) - Healthcare conglomerate Kaiser Permanente said on Wednesday it is facing intermittent network disruptions affecting several of its systems, including electronic health records and patient services. The outage has impacted online features such as e-visits, billing, messaging and access to medical records, the company said, adding that some pharmacy, lab, radiology and call center operations are also experiencing delays. "Our technical teams are engaged and working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible," Kaiser Permanente said. The company said it has backup systems and procedures in place to support continuous patient care and secure access to medical records.
CNA
3 days ago
- Business
- CNA
Kaiser Permanente says it is facing intermittent network disruptions
Healthcare conglomerate Kaiser Permanente said on Wednesday it is facing intermittent network disruptions affecting several of its systems, including electronic health records and patient services. The outage has impacted online features such as e-visits, billing, messaging and access to medical records, the company said, adding that some pharmacy, lab, radiology and call center operations are also experiencing delays. "Our technical teams are engaged and working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible," Kaiser Permanente said. The company said it has backup systems and procedures in place to support continuous patient care and secure access to medical records.
The Verge
3 days ago
- Business
- The Verge
A Kaiser Permanente systems outage has pharmacies relying on pen and paper
Healthcare company Kaiser Permanente is dealing with a system outage that is forcing its hospitals and pharmacies to fill out prescriptions with pen and paper — and is slowing down services at other parts of the company, too. 'We are currently experiencing intermittent network interruptions with some of our applications, including the system that runs our electronic health records,' Kaiser Permanente says in an alert for Northern California residents. 'At this time, you may not be able to access some features on our site, including e-visits, billing, message center, and records.' 'Additionally, some of our pharmacy, laboratory, radiology, and call center systems are experiencing intermittent interruptions. This could affect our ability to promptly process your prescriptions, lab draws or test results, or radiology procedures. We apologize for the inconvenience.' One Verge staffer saw the problems firsthand today while trying to get a prescription filled at a Kaiser hospital pharmacy. They said all the pharmacy's systems were down, including payment terminals, and that the pharmacists had to fill out a point-of-sale form to fill the prescription. Staffers at the pharmacy warned about long wait times, saying it could take an hour to fill a simple prescription. The issues appear to extend beyond just Northern California, as a thread on Reddit includes reports of issues from places like Southern California, Maryland, and Portland. Kaiser Permanente has also been replying to users on X, saying that it is 'aware of the system outages' and that it is 'working to restore services as soon as possible.'
CBS News
3 days ago
- Business
- CBS News
Oakland facing years of structural budget deficits, forecast warns
Oakland is on pace to continue spending more than it earns over the next five years if the city doesn't take steps to address its ongoing structural deficit, according to a report presented to members of the City Council on Tuesday. In its annual "Five-Year Financial Forecast," Oakland's Finance Department predicts yearly budget deficits ranging from about $115 million to nearly $130 million until the end of fiscal year 2029-2030. "Rising costs for insurance, medical benefits, and pension obligations will place increasing pressure on the (general purpose fund) and other funds in future budget cycles," according to the report, which was presented to the council's Finance and Management Committee. The report will be heard by the full City Council at an upcoming meeting and is intended to help the city's leadership understand how macroeconomic trends impact the budget and to quantify the city's spending and revenue patterns. Some key findings include the expectation that property tax revenue will grow at a modest 1.6 percent next fiscal year and will reach 3 percent by the following year, and that the general fund will be supplemented by about $30 million annually after voters approved a new sales tax in April. Business tax revenue is projected to grow by 3.7 percent, hampered somewhat by the departure of Kaiser Permanente's headquarters, the Athletics baseball team and some high-profile restaurant and hotel closings, while real estate transfer tax revenue should rise by about 4 percent. Still, without adjustments, the city's spending remains unsustainable, outpacing its overall 3 percent revenue growth over the next few years, said Director of Finance Erin Roseman. "This is how you get to the definition of a structural imbalance, that the revenues are growing at a slower pace than the expenditures are," Roseman said. She also noted that President Donald Trump's recent on-again, off-again tariff wars with multiple overseas trading partners is increasing the risk of a recession over the next two to five years, which would have additional negative impacts on the city's ability to balance its budget. "As we've seen with the federal administration and its large effects on the macroeconomy, in the current few years we expect there to be downward pressure," she said. The City Council on Wednesday will hold a budget workshop to review and discuss the roughly $4.4 billion, two-year budget proposal from Councilmember Kevin Jenkins, who drafted the document while serving as interim mayor prior to the inauguration of Barbara Lee. That proposal seeks to balance the 2025-2026/2026-2027 budget by, in part, reducing the Oakland Police Department's overtime spending from a recent high of about $50 million per year to roughly $34 million next fiscal year and $38 million the year after that. It also eliminates more than 400 mostly vacant city jobs, includes fewer than a dozen actual layoffs, while anticipating additional revenue streams, including a possible $40 million-a-year parcel tax for the June 2026 ballot and bond sales of $180 million for affordable housing and $30 million for street paving. In a bit of positive financial news, the Finance and Management Committee also heard a third-quarter fiscal report Tuesday about how the city is on pace to end this fiscal year with a balanced budget, despite being "plagued with some challenges," Roseman said. That feat was achieved by the City Council's mid-cycle budget adjustments in December of 2024, the implementation of a contingency budget, temporary closure of four fire stations on a rotating basis and the transfer of some money from other areas, including an emergency reserve fund, into the city's general fund in order to eliminate a roughly $120 million deficit. "We believe that we can end this year with a marginally positive amount of $383,000, effectively balancing this fiscal year's budget," Roseman said.
Epoch Times
4 days ago
- Health
- Epoch Times
The VA Has the People—Now It Needs the Infrastructure
Commentary The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) stands alone in purpose and scale—tasked with caring for millions who've served. For all its significance, the VA is hobbled by a truth no one in Washington wants to say: it was built for the last century, not this one. The cracks are deeply human. A Marine needs to see a cardiologist. The nearest hospital has openings, but he's routed to a facility hours away. Across the country, a doctor has openings but no way to reach patients. In the private sector, gaps like these would raise alarms. At the VA, it's all too common. Committed professionals fill the ranks, but even the best can't outrun the system around them. The VA's regional structure is a patchwork of networks, each with its own priorities and patchy methods to move care where it's needed most. A VA schedulers navigate legacy platforms, often unable to see the full network of available providers. And clinicians, trained for everything from combat trauma to mental health, are caught in a system where access depends more on geography than on need. Washington's answer? Spend more or cut deeper. Related Stories 5/18/2025 5/16/2025 The latest budget sets a goal to reduce the VA workforce by The data's there. What's missing is the ability to read it, act on it, and move the supply of care dynamically. Today, some facilities are crowded, others underused, and too often, they're miles apart. The capacity exists yet goes untapped without the infrastructure to shift care across regions, professionals, or venues. Private health systems faced a similar reckoning. They now use data to anticipate patient demand and surface availability across markets. Scheduling a quick check-up is a tap away online. Kaiser Permanente built a national virtual care network, offering round-the-clock care by phone, video, or email —no in-person visit required. What's stopping the VA from creating a single virtual network where a doctor in Arizona can meet the needs of a veteran in Florida? For years, the solution to access gaps was to expand referrals outside the system. The MISSION Act opened more doors through Community Care. By 2022, But even with more options, delays persist. In 2023, veterans referred to outside providers waited, on average, The fix starts with strengthening the VA's digital foundation. Healthcare now generates nearly The same approach can restore the VA by reactivating capacity and rebuilding trust with veterans. But that demands more than austerity measures, as real innovation builds smarter and connects what's already there to create a network that's digital and borderless. The Dole Act—recently signed into law—gives the VA Secretary the runway to build a plan that books appointments during the first call, aims for same-day access, and puts veteran preferences at the center of every decision. The law gives the new administration a concrete target to move on and upgrade how veterans get care. VA Secretary Doug Collins . No more wasted capacity. No more isolated regions. No more digital vacuums swallowing up care. The VA has the scale and people. Now, it needs the infrastructure—and the will—to deliver. From Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
