Maria Elena Lai, MD
I speak: English, Spanish
My gender: Female
Where I practice
- Emergency service
- Urgent care services
- After-hours services
- Pharmacy services
- No emergency services
- No urgent care services
- No after-hours services
- No pharmacy services
About me
Thanks for taking the time to view my Web page. I am glad to have this opportunity to introduce myself to you and tell you about my practice.
Biography
I know it sounds like a cliché, but the truth is I wanted to be a physician from the time I was a child; I just wanted to help people. And that's still true today. Though life as an adult is much more complicated than I could have imagined as a child (having a family and a mortgage), I find that with each new day I am living in the most rewarding time of my life. As a physician I am doing what I've always wanted to do; as a mother and a wife I am finding personal fulfillment that is beyond description. I was born and raised in Los Angeles. I went to college at UC Berkeley, where I met my husband-to-be, then spent four years in Milwaukee attending medical school. After residency and fellowship in San Diego (my husband's hometown), we decided it was just too beautiful a place to ever leave, so I worked in private practice for a few years before making the wonderful decision to join Kaiser Permanente.
About my practice
I am a geriatrician in the Continuing Care Services Department, where I care for members at several skilled-nursing facilities. I also provide in-home hospice care for members living in San Diego's East County.
How I thrive
The key to how I thrive lies with my family. We love taking the kids to new places, parks, and museums. My husband and I also make it a point to have "date nights" for dinner and a show. Another important part of how I thrive is keeping an active and healthy lifestyle. This includes eating right and exercising regularly. I love running and have run a number of marathons and half marathons. My favorite so far was running the Big Sur International Marathon with my husband.
My office
Languages spoken by medical staff
Help is available in your language. Learn more.
My provider type
Physicians and SurgeonsMedical groups, plans, and locations
Southern California Permanente Medical Group
- Exclusive Provider Organization (EPO)
- HMO
- Medi-Cal Managed Care
- Point-of-Service Plan (POS)
- Senior Advantage
Contact information
- Advice/Appointment/Cancellations
- 1-833-574-2273 (toll free)
- Operator/Information
- 858-266-5000
My training, certifications and licensing
Medical school
Medical College of WisconsinBoard certification
Family Medicine
American Board of Family MedicineGeriatric Medicine
American Board of Family MedicineHospice and Palliative Medicine
American Board of Internal MedicineMedical training
Fellowship
Geriatric Medicine
UC San Diego School of MedicineInternship
Family Medicine
Scripps Mercy Hospital Chula VistaResidency
Family Medicine
Scripps Mercy Hospital Chula VistaJoined Permanente Medical Group
2007Active license information
License number
A73439License type
Physician and SurgeonLicense issuing state
CALIFORNIANational Provider Identifier (NPI)
1588645048Cultural Competency Training (CCT)
CompletedMy hospitals
All Kaiser Permanente physicians and podiatrists have admitting privileges or the ability to refer patients to our plan hospitals. Admitting privileges of other providers may vary by plan and facility. Contact your plan administrator for details.
Setting the standard: Measuring care quality in our hospitals(PDF)
Setting the standard: Measuring care quality in our hospitals(PDF)
To find a provider's office hours, search our facility directory.
The information in this online directory is updated periodically. The availability of physicians, hospitals, providers, and services may change. Information about a practitioner is provided to us by the practitioner or is obtained as part of the credentialing process. If you have questions, please call us at 1-800-464-4000 (toll free). For the hearing and speech impaired: 1-800-464-4000 (toll free) or TTY 711 (toll free). You can also call the Medical Board of California at 916-263-2382, or visit their website.
We want to speak to you in the language that you’re most comfortable with when you call or visit us. Qualified interpreter services, including sign language, are available at no cost, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week during all hours of operations at all points of contact. We do not encourage the use of family, friends or minors as interpreters. Only the services of interpreters and qualified staff are used to provide language assistance. These may include bilingual providers, staff, and healthcare interpreters. In-person, telephone, video, and alternative modes of communication are available. Learn more about interpreter services.
If you would like to report an error in provider or facility information, please contact us.
Medicare Members: To request a hard copy of Kaiser Permanente’s provider directory, please call our Member Services department at 1-800-443-0815, seven days a week, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Kaiser Permanente will mail a hard copy of the provider directory to you within three (3) business days of your request. Kaiser Permanente may ask whether your request for a hard copy is a one-time request or if you are requesting to receive the provider directory in hard copy permanently.
If you request it, your request for hard copies of the provider directory remains until you leave Kaiser Permanente or request that hard copies be discontinued.
Medi-Cal Members: This directory includes Kaiser Permanente’s outpatient pharmacies. You can get any drugs covered by Kaiser Permanente at one of these pharmacies. You can get outpatient drugs covered by Medi-Cal at any Medi-Cal Rx Pharmacy. It does not have to be a Kaiser Permanente network pharmacy. Most Kaiser Permanente network pharmacies are Medi-Cal Rx pharmacies. Your pharmacy can tell you if it is part of the Medi-Cal Rx network. If you want to find a Medi-Cal pharmacy outside of Kaiser Permanente, you can use the Medi-Cal Rx Pharmacy Locator online at www.Medi-CalRx.dhcs.ca.gov. You can also call Medi-Cal Rx Customer Service at 1-800-977-2273, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (TTY 711 Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.).
Medi-Cal Members: Enhanced Care Management and Community Supports services require prior authorization and are limited to members who meet specific eligibility criteria.
Kaiser Permanente enrollees have full and equal access to covered services, including enrollees with disabilities as required under the Federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Kaiser Permanente uses the same quality, member experience, or cost-related measures to select practitioners and facilities in Marketplace Silver-tier plans as it does for all other Kaiser Foundation Health Plan (KFHP) products and lines of business. The measures may include, but are not limited to, HEDIS/CAHPS performance, member/patient complaints, patient safety scores, hospital quality measures, and geographic need. Members enrolled in KFHP Marketplace plans have access to all professional, institutional and ancillary health care providers who participate in KFHP plans’ contracted provider network, in accordance with the terms of members’ KFHP plan of coverage. All Kaiser Permanente Medical Group physicians and network physicians are subject to the same quality review processes and certifications.
Kaiser Permanente uses the same geographic distribution consideration to select hospitals in Marketplace plans as it does for all other Kaiser Foundation Health Plan (KFHP) products and lines of business. Accessibility of medical offices and medical centers in this directory: All Kaiser Permanente facilities are accessible to members.
This page was last updated on: 12/12/2024