By Carrie Peyton Dahlberg

Worried that Kaiser Permanente may be letting unlicensed staffers make medical decisions, the state is investigating the giant HMO’s call centers and plans to demand documents that Kaiser has refused to surrender.

The probe began in response to a nurse’s complaints that mishandled calls are leaving Kaiser patients vulnerable to misdiagnoses and delayed care.

The investigation is also shedding light on a 2003 state law that was intended to block just what Kaiser is still doing – using a semi-automated system to let people with no medical training determine how quickly a patient is seen.

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