KevinMD.com

January 12, 2026Jan 12, 2026

Last week, I spent over two hours on a prior authorization for a patient who needed a medication she'd been stable on for years. Two hours of hold music, transferred calls, and faxed forms, while patients waited. That same week,…

Last week, I spent over two hours on a prior authorization for a patient who needed a medication she’d been stable on for years. Two hours of hold music, transferred calls, and faxed forms, while patients waited.

That same week, Anthropic announced Claude for Healthcare: An AI system that can verify coverage requirements, build claims appeals, and streamline prior authorizations in minutes. OpenAI launched ChatGPT Health days earlier. Both promise to …

Physician voices

The burden of being both doctor and family: an ethical reflection

Francisco M. Torres, MD

January 12, 2026Jan 12, 2026

I come from a long line of physicians. My grandfather was a pioneer in pharmacy and biochemistry, so influential that a museum now bears his name. My father, also a doctor, was cut from a very different cloth. I have written before about our strained relationship and the heavy expectations placed on a child born into a family with a reputation to uphold. Those tensions shaped my early views …

Physician voices

A physician father on the Dobbs decision and reproductive rights

Travis Walker, MD, MPH

January 12, 2026Jan 12, 20262

I proudly bear the title of "Dad," and my daughter is five (going on 15), fiery, carefree, and unmistakably precocious, yet still my silly, innocent, sweet little girl. I imagine many girls with older brothers develop a similarly spirited personality.…

I proudly bear the title of “Dad,” and my daughter is five (going on 15), fiery, carefree, and unmistakably precocious, yet still my silly, innocent, sweet little girl. I imagine many girls with older brothers develop a similarly spirited personality. However, with her brothers being slightly older, I’ve watched that same innocence gradually diminish in them, as they are being slowly exposed to life’s complexities through school, friends, and their …

Real physician voices, twice a week

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The Podcast by KevinMD

Navigating the medical system requires specific life skills [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

January 11, 2026Jan 11, 2026

Otolaryngologist Alan P. Feren and patient advocate Joyce Griggs discuss their article "Why health self-advocacy is an essential life skill." Alan and Joyce share the personal journey of becoming a "chief health executive" and explain why managing medical care should…

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Otolaryngologist Alan P. Feren and patient advocate Joyce Griggs discuss their article “Why health self-advocacy is an essential life skill.” Alan and Joyce share the personal journey of becoming a “chief health executive” and explain why managing medical care should be treated with the same seriousness as financial planning. They …

Conditions and diseases

A school nurse’s story of trauma and nurse burnout

Debbie Moore-Black, RN

January 11, 2026Jan 11, 2026

School had just started for the new school year. It was hot and humid. I had just retired from ICU nursing and behavioral health, a 46-year career and never skipping a beat. After several months of retirement, I couldn’t sit still. I was bored and had that nagging feeling that I wasn’t done yet with my career. Maybe that nagging feeling was guilt. Like you can’t quit. You can’t stop. …

Physician voices

WISeR Medicare pilot: the new “AI death panel”?

Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA

January 11, 2026Jan 11, 2026

There are many ways to say "no" in medicine. "No, this antibiotic won't help a viral infection." "No, this test won't change our management." "No, that surgery carries more risk than benefit." And then there is the newest way: "No,…

There are many ways to say “no” in medicine.
“No, this antibiotic won’t help a viral infection.”
“No, this test won’t change our management.”
“No, that surgery carries more risk than benefit.”

And then there is the newest way:
“No, the algorithm doesn’t prioritize your health.”

Welcome to WISeR, short for “Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction,” a Medicare pilot program that promises to usher artificial intelligence into health care decision-making with all the subtlety of …

Physician voices

Ghost networks in health care: Why physicians are suing insurers

Timothy Lesaca, MD

January 11, 2026Jan 11, 2026

For years we have told patients the same thing when they have trouble finding a doctor: Go to your insurance directory, look it up, they can help you. And despite saying that, many of us have quietly known for a…

For years we have told patients the same thing when they have trouble finding a doctor: Go to your insurance directory, look it up, they can help you.

And despite saying that, many of us have quietly known for a long time that this advice is broken. We still give it. We give it hoping for the best, knowing there really are not many other useful options to offer at this …

Conditions and diseases

SNF discharge planning: Why documentation is no longer enough

Rafiat Banwo, OTD

January 11, 2026Jan 11, 2026

There is a dangerous assumption circulating in skilled nursing facility (SNF) boardrooms: "If it's documented in the EMR, we are protected." For years, this logic held up. Compliance was a game of checkboxes. Did the nurse educate the patient? Check.…

There is a dangerous assumption circulating in skilled nursing facility (SNF) boardrooms: “If it’s documented in the EMR, we are protected.”

For years, this logic held up. Compliance was a game of checkboxes. Did the nurse educate the patient? Check. Did the patient verbalize understanding? Check. Is the care plan signed? Check.

But the regulatory landscape has shifted beneath our feet. The Department of Justice (DOJ) and CMS are no longer just …

Conditions and diseases

How honoring patient autonomy prevents medical trauma

Sheryl J. Nicholson, MPH, MDiv

January 11, 2026Jan 11, 2026

Holding my mother in my arms as she took her last breath changed the way I understand care. That moment, Easter Monday in Canada, was heartbreaking and transformative. Her unwavering faith and peaceful passing contrasted sharply with the confusion that…

The experience became the catalyst for my commitment to advocacy and ethical clarity. It taught me that even …

The Podcast by KevinMD

Regulatory red tape threatens survival of rare disease patients [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

January 10, 2026Jan 10, 2026

Medical oncologist, geriatrician, and physician scientist GJ van Londen and Chief of Genetic and Genomic Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Gerald Vockley discuss the article "FDA delays could end vital treatment for rare disease patients." GJ…

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Medical oncologist, geriatrician, and physician scientist GJ van Londen and Chief of Genetic and Genomic Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Gerald Vockley discuss the article “FDA delays could end vital treatment for rare disease patients.” GJ and Gerald explore the complex regulatory impasse where the U.S. …

Health technology

Why remote patient monitoring needs a preventive shift

Chris Darland

January 10, 2026Jan 10, 2026

We've been thinking about remote patient monitoring (RPM) the wrong way. Picture this. A patient comes home from the hospital after a cardiac scare. They've got a smart scale on their chest, maybe a blood pressure cuff on the counter,…

We’ve been thinking about remote patient monitoring (RPM) the wrong way.

Picture this. A patient comes home from the hospital after a cardiac scare. They’ve got a smart scale on their chest, maybe a blood pressure cuff on the counter, and a nurse scheduled to stop by later in the week. The care team, the patient, and the tech are all working together in the hopes that things don’t get worse.

The …

Health policy

Ecovillages and organic agriculture: a scenario for global climate restoration

David K. Cundiff, MD

January 10, 2026Jan 10, 2026

Eight years ago, motivated by concern for my six grandchildren and future generations, I began a systematic study of climate change through the assessment reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). That work led me to focus on a central omission in mainstream climate modeling: The failure to model global conversion to exclusively organic agriculture.

In 2024, the preprint journal SSRN published my scenario to reduce net projected greenhouse …

Physician voices

Why sustainable habit change requires more than willpower

Farid Sabet-Sharghi, MD

January 10, 2026Jan 10, 2026

Pick up a bestselling nonfiction book today and you'll see confident claims about habit change, dopamine detoxes, and rewiring the "default mode network." These ideas now circulate in podcasts, blogs, and social media as if the brain were an appliance…

Pick up a bestselling nonfiction book today and you’ll see confident claims about habit change, dopamine detoxes, and rewiring the “default mode network.” These ideas now circulate in podcasts, blogs, and social media as if the brain were an appliance that simply needs the right setting. But in real life, human behavior is not so easily reconfigured.

What I’ve observed is that habits, motivations, and compulsive patterns are shaped not only …

Health policy

How environmental justice and health disparities connect to climate change

Alexis Thompson & Anamaria Ancheta & Annique McLune & Kaitlynn Esemaya

January 10, 2026Jan 10, 20263

Environmental justice, health disparities, and climate change are deeply interconnected, with climate change acting as a threat multiplier that exacerbates existing health inequities, particularly among marginalized and underserved communities. Environmental justice refers to equitable and meaningful involvement in environmental policies, regardless of income, race, etc. Historically marginalized communities of color, the low-income population, and indigenous people are disproportionately exposed to ongoing as well as historical environmental policies. Health disparities arise …

The Podcast by KevinMD

Sustainable legislative reform outweighs temporary discount programs [PODCAST]

The Podcast by KevinMD

January 9, 2026Jan 9, 2026

President and chief executive officer of the National Psoriasis Foundation (NPF) Leah M. Howard discusses her article "Pharmacy benefit manager reform vs. direct drug plans." Leah analyzes the recent emergence of direct-purchase drug programs and argues that while innovative thinking…

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President and chief executive officer of the National Psoriasis Foundation (NPF) Leah M. Howard discusses her article “Pharmacy benefit manager reform vs. direct drug plans.” Leah analyzes the recent emergence of direct-purchase drug programs and argues that while innovative thinking is welcome, it cannot replace the need for deep systemic …

Health policy

Examining the rural divide in pediatric health care

James Bianchi

January 9, 2026Jan 9, 2026

A vacant expression covered the face of a 14-year-old boy who lay almost lifeless in a hospital bed, completely unaware of the frantic hustle that surrounded him. Once an extraordinary student-athlete, intracerebral hemorrhage unjustly robbed him of his robust character. This was my most significant interaction with a patient. I knew him not as the student-athlete, nor the boy from neurosurgery, but as my youngest brother. With limited access to …

Physician voices

Psychedelic retreat safety: What the latest science says

Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA

January 9, 2026Jan 9, 2026

"Turn on, tune in, drop out" was a rallying cry for liberation. "What a long, strange trip it's been" is how we nostalgically narrate the aftermath. Psychedelic-assisted therapy now sits somewhere between those two cultural bookends: a rapidly professionalizing clinical…

“Turn on, tune in, drop out” was a rallying cry for liberation. “What a long, strange trip it’s been” is how we nostalgically narrate the aftermath. Psychedelic-assisted therapy now sits somewhere between those two cultural bookends: a rapidly professionalizing clinical enterprise and a booming, loosely regulated marketplace of “retreats” selling healing, insight, and transcendence.

The science behind psychedelics is more real than ever. So are the risks. The problem is …

Drugs and prescribing

How CAR-NK cancer therapy could be safer than CAR-T

Cliff Dominy, PhD

January 9, 2026Jan 9, 2026

Imagine a cancer therapy that bypasses the immune system and strikes tumors with greater precision. The advantages of a blindfolded immune system could mean reduced therapeutic side effects and delivering more of the drug to where it is needed the most. Now imagine that this potentially safer and highly effective therapy was available on demand. Thanks to a new generation of genetically modified biologics, it may be closer than we …

Health technology

ChatGPT Health in hospitals: 5 essential safety protocols

Harvey Castro, MD, MBA

January 9, 2026Jan 9, 2026

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly entering clinical spaces, and ChatGPT is among the tools drawing increasing interest. Hospitals recognize their potential to reduce administrative burden, improve communication, and support clinical decision-making. But with this potential comes responsibility. Deploying large language…

But with this potential comes responsibility. Deploying large language models (LLMs) in health care without proper oversight can lead to misinformation, privacy breaches, and erosion of patient trust. Before implementation, hospitals must establish a framework grounded in safety, ethics, and …

Conditions and diseases

Why fear-based approaches fail in chronic illness care

Bridgette Johnson, PhD, RN

January 9, 2026Jan 9, 2026

In caring for patients with chronic illness, we often assume that if people truly understood the consequences of poor disease management, they would change. We explain complications, cite lab values, outline risks, and sometimes lean into fear in hopes that it will motivate action. When patients do not follow recommendations, we label them as noncompliant or unmotivated. Yet chronic illness is not managed in exam rooms or hospital beds. It …

Real physician voices, twice a week

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