San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors held a special hearing on Tuesday on Kaiser Permanente contract proposals that clinicians say could undermine patient care.
Kaiser has spent the past year in contract negotiations with its behavioral health clinicians in Northern California. Kaiser employees say the company's latest proposal will expand the use of artificial intelligence in mental health care.
"We asked their bargaining team flat out if that meant they were planning to replace us, and they said that they wanted that flexibility," said Ilana Marcucci-Morris, a member of the Healthcare Workers Union and a clinical social worker at Kaiser.
Clinicians, like Marcucci-Morris, allege that AI is already being illegally used during intakes.
"Kaiser isn't just violating the law by having new technology do the work of its human clinicians. It's violating patient care standards and putting patients at risk," Marcucci-Morris explained. "Artificial intelligence and algorithms don't capture what trained humans can."
The hearing comes after years of scrutiny over Kaiser’s behavioral health services, including state enforcement actions and more than $231 million in penalties and settlements.
The Board of Supervisors requested that a Kaiser representative attend the hearing, but no one from the company was present on Tuesday.
"I think it is extremely disrespectful that Kaiser is not here," District 10 Supervisor Shamaan Walton said. "Not just for the fact that fair bargaining practices should be basic for an employer. But when this Board of Supervisors makes a request for an employer to attend a hearing, they most certainly should make sure that they are in attendance."
In a statement to KALW, Kaiser says they don’t agree with the statements made by clinicians, and are dedicated to reaching a bargain agreement.
Both the union and Kaiser have agreed on mediation as a next step.
