A culture that cares about people - Senior Practice Leader Kaiser Permanente Employee Review

4.0
21 Jun 2010
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I've worked at Kaiser for many years, and just about everyone I've worked with genuinely cares about Kaiser members and is trying to do the right thing. At Kaiser you can do things that can't be done anywhere else, particularly at the scale that Kaiser can do them. Because it's a large integrated group practice in partnership with an insurance company and hospital system, you're walking into an environment built for systemic collaboration. The most obvious places where this bears fruit are in the electronic medical record, which is incredibly open not only to physicians and staff but also to members via the Web.

Cons

Kaiser has major problems focusing. There are always 100 "number one priority" initiatives. Ego issues with some leaders, particularly on the physician side, can get in the way of creative solutions designed around the members.

Explore other reviews about Kaiser Permanente

5.0
3 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Learned a lot, coworkers nice

Cons

N/a no cons in my experience

4.0
9 Sept 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Kaiser is a great place to work and build a career over time. In my experience salaries are above market for most positions, and the benefits are so good that many people become "lifers". The health coverage is extremely generous, and time off starts off adequate and gets better over time (18 days when you start, moving up to 33 after 15+ years - this does not include sick time). Employees truly believe in the mission of KP (at least, I do) and it's clear that this is a place where employees' contributions are valued. Although my role is not part of any of the unions, the fact that our workforce is predominantly unionized also places a positive role in KP's reputation as a good place for workers (although having unionized staff also presents many challenges). Overall, I enjoy working at KP and would recommend it to others, but understand that you are entering a big bureaucracy. A friendly, mission-driven bureaucracy, but still.

Cons

Cons: having lots of "lifers" means that innovative ideas and workflows are not always adopted without a fight. People have their roles deeply embedded here, and any threat to the status quo is seen as negative, even though we need to make some pretty radical changes given the new health care environment post-ACA. There's a lot of "not my job" attitudes here. It's hard to navigate the layers of bureaucracy, both in terms of personnel/HR/benefits, and in getting work done (there are often 4-5 departments at the regional and national KP levels working on similar areas, and no guidance on who does what.) Be aware that KP is not immune to reorganizations and layoffs -- they do make a good attempt to ensure workers are hired elsewhere in the organization, but there are no guarantees, and there can be a lot of turnover in certain departments. Benefits are currently generous but are always subject to downgrades in the future, so just be aware of that. Some changes to the pension and retiree medical benefits are about to hit, and with them a wave of Baby Boomers will be taking retirement, which should hopefully open up many new management opportunities for Millennials. Oh, and the biggest con of all: we still - STILL - use Lotus Notes for email. Shocking, I know, but true.

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