Prior authorization reform for health care coverage takes center stage

Policy
July 23, 2021

One of the leading reasons for provider frustration is prior authorizations. The insurance companies initially created prior authorization (prior auth) to keep down the cost of care when a service fee was the primary payment method for payers. However, it has become a hindrance for providers and staff as they spend hours waiting for authorization to provide medical care.

In the past, hospital organizations needed approval (prior authorization) from an insurance …

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How a homeless teen became a physician [PODCAST]

Podcast
July 22, 2021
YouTube video

“During my medical school clerkships, an attending recognized a truth within me that I’d hidden for many years. Just a few hours into my pediatrics rotation, the attending asked me, ‘You had a rough childhood, didn’t you?’

I was astonished. How had he known? I asked him, needing to know …

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Menopause changes women’s singing voices

Conditions
July 22, 2021

Singing during the years around menopause can bring unforeseen challenges for some women. To Elaine, a 56-year-old professional singer and voice teacher, her voice has felt like a mystery for the last few years. Her vibrato was wider than it used to be, her usual songs didn’t feel good anymore, and her flexibility and agility had decreased.

On top of that, the vocal transition, or break, between her high and low …

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Teens need later school start times

Conditions
July 22, 2021

Daily cries from parents, pediatricians, the press, and the public to reopen schools in the fall are certainly well-intentioned, but they are overlooking a critical opportunity to advance adolescent physical and mental health long after the COVID-19 pandemic is over. Delaying school start times for teens by an hour, or even two, could optimize a teen’s sleep and their ability to learn throughout the day.

Sleep is critical for teen health …

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Why it’s important to embrace dialectical thinking

Physician
July 22, 2021

“Embrace dialectical thinking, stupid!”

That’s the mantra I repeat when I catch myself getting worked up about a deep-seated belief, idea, or cause.  Understanding the flip side of the equation helps me to neutralize powerful negative feelings like righteous indignation, bitter disappointment, and utter disgust with the incompetence of fill-in-the-blank.

Dialectical thinking is the ability to view an issue from multiple perspectives.  Embracing it helps us recognize that it’s almost always possible …

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What this physician learned from medicine in developing countries [PODCAST]

Podcast
July 21, 2021
YouTube video

“On a recent call with a small health organization in rural Uganda, I asked the director about the C-section rate in the community. In some private maternity centers, this procedure is performed far more often than one might expect. I’ve learned that while this practice may be financially motivated, the …

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JAMA retracts controversial masks study

Conditions
July 21, 2021

A controversial study suggesting that masks may harm children by exposing them to high carbon dioxide levels was retracted on Friday.

The research letter released in JAMA Pediatrics on June 30 had reported unacceptably high levels of carbon dioxide by German standards in air inside masks worn by children in a laboratory environment.

In the retraction notice, the journal editors cited “numerous scientific issues,” that also included questions over the applicability …

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Using nanoparticles to treat polycystic kidney disease [PODCAST]

Podcast
July 20, 2021
YouTube video

“Excited by the promise our research holds for PKD patients, we have been packaging a variety of PKD drugs into our nanoparticles, testing their ability to act as a courier service for renal drug delivery. We’ve been testing this process on drugs that show therapeutic benefits in animal models …

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During COVID, older patients stopped going to the doctor. Here’s how to change that.

Conditions
July 20, 2021

When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out last year, Helen (not her real name) took all the right steps to protect herself. The 74-year-old self-isolated, wore a face mask, and practiced social distancing.

Helen stayed safe from the virus during this time, but she put her health at risk in another way: for nearly two years, she didn’t see her primary care physician. Nor did she go to the eye doctor to …

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I learned the most about medicine from my dad’s death

Physician
July 20, 2021

I had just finished a grueling orthopedic residency. Yet once again, I was on the run and bearing bad news. I was sprinting from a well-known Mumbai hospital to a nearby hotel room. But this time, the bad news wasn’t for the family of one of my patients. It was for my mother.

As I waded through the crowd whose constant overflow from the sidewalk onto the road left a shifting …

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Hypertension is killing pregnant mothers. Blood pressure monitoring can help. [PODCAST]

Podcast
July 19, 2021
YouTube video

“Hypertensive disorders with onset during pregnancies are among the leading causes of maternal and infant mortality and morbidity in the U.S. and can have far-reaching consequences for the long-term health of the mother and child.

In Dr. Jerome Adams’ recent Call to Action to recognize and address hypertension control as a …

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3 mistakes physicians make that triple charting time

Physician
July 19, 2021

Let’s face it, what’s getting most physicians down is not their patients. No, ask any group of physicians what the hardest part of the job is, and you’ll like get a pretty consistent response: It’s the EMR! With studies showing that we spend, on average, two hours on “paperwork” for every hour in the room with a patient, there’s no question that it is a massive time suck for most. …

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When air hurts and becomes the harshest invader

Conditions
July 19, 2021

Wood art

When Air Hurts
When the Lung Repulses Air
When Air Becomes the Harshest Invader
When Air Is Heavier Than Mountains

This work was inspired by my father and many other patients who were struggling to breathe. The soft, unnoticeable air suddenly becomes a palpable matter wildly invading the walls of the respiratory system, making noises and creating resistance.

A “refreshing” breath leaves the person more tired, …

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Doctors and the 5 stages of grief

Physician
July 19, 2021

Thanks to the marvels of medicine, newly vaccinated Americans are returning to life as normal and partying like it’s 2019. Doctors, who are emerging from the pandemic as national heroes, would like to turn back the clock even further—to the halcyon days of 20th-century medicine.

But doctors, unlike their maskless and freewheeling patients, will be disappointed with what the future holds.

Trying to turn back the clock

Physicians have had a rough century, …

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The burden of the documentation and administrative tasks on physicians needs to be lightened significantly

Physician
July 19, 2021

It takes a special person to care for people during their most vulnerable states, to keep intimate details about people while remaining compassionate even toward the seemingly vilest of persons. The white color of a physicians’ coat can be a metaphor for the purity expected of physicians. A physician’s signature or words carry weight. With such power comes the responsibility to be trustworthy.

Documentation is an important part of patient care. …

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Winning at parenting without losing yourself [PODCAST]

Podcast
July 18, 2021
YouTube video

“As working women, we have an opportunity to be an example of living with passion and priorities, of working hard, of staying committed, not necessarily to work itself but to the priorities we set around our work and our personal lives. When we work and parent simultaneously, we have a chance to …

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Survivorship bias and abandoning legacy thinking in residency

Physician
July 18, 2021

A challenge: Pick a time during residency training where the burden of patient care and education coalesced with scarce family time or social life, and the urge to quit lingered on the back of the tongue. Think about someone you reached out to, whether it be a co-resident, attending, mentor, and think about their response. Was it positive? Or was it something along the lines of: “You’re lucky, I didn’t …

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A word of advice from one chief resident to another

Physician
July 18, 2021

Chiefs, remember, one of those interns is going to fill your shoes in a few years. They may model you in that role, so you want to raise them well! As a former chief resident, I have lots of pearls for those entering residency. However, what I will tell you now is different from what I would have told you then. I have since learned that there are possibilities to …

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Anti-Asian racism and how bystander intervention training can save a life [PODCAST]

Podcast
July 17, 2021
YouTube video

“Doctors undergo mandatory training sessions in medical school to prepare for unexpected medical emergencies. Health care workers are mandated reporters who have to undergo specific training for the purpose of identifying child and elder abuse or neglect. Bystander intervention should also be on that continuum of responsibility and training.

I urge bystander intervention …

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