Interview With Kaiser Permanente Health Care Ombuds

The Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog features an interview with David Richardson, PhD. Richardson introduces himself and gives an overview of his the role of the Ombuds within the sprawling Kaiser Permanente health care system. (Kaiser employs 28 HCOMs in California across 35 locations.) "The primary focus when the Ombudsman is involved is to achieve a resolution concerning patient-clinician issues at the earliest possible opportunity and lowest possible level, well before they are elevated to a legal claim," he said.

Before joining Kaiser as an Ombudsman, Richardson worked at The Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles as the Center Administrator for Behavioral Neuroscience Research Center and later as the Administrative Director for the College of Medicine. He earned his doctorate in Psychology and completed mediation training at the School of Law at Loyola Marymount University. He points out that he presently is the the only Certified Organizational Ombudsman Practitioner at Kaiser. The interview was conducted by Mathew Pauley, the Medical Bioethics Director at Kaiser's Fontana and Ontario Vineyard Medical Centers, and a Marquette Law School alumnus. (Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog.)

Related posts: CO-OP Board Announces First Class of Certified Ombuds; Tenth ACR Conference Will Highlight Ombuds Issues.