Category: KevinMD

The burden of prior authorizations and denials in health care

Prior authorization — a utilization management (UM) process used by health insurance companies to determine coverage for a prescribed procedure, service, or medication — is now becoming a mandatory requirement by the vast majority of large insurance co…

Do evolving blood pressure guidelines apply to the geriatric population?

One of the advantages of practicing clinical medicine, and seeing patients daily for many years, is you develop your own long-term study regarding certain medical health issues. In the area of hypertension, I have been taught by the best since my inter…

What I learned from starting medical school in January

I graduated from an international medical school this past spring. I’m currently in the midst of a preliminary year as an internal medicine resident at St. John’s Riverside Hospital in Yonkers, N.Y. Next year, I’ll start my dream resi…

Navigating the holidays when you’re a caregiver for a loved one living with dementia

The holidays bring friends and family together for celebrations and the chance to reconnect with people we may not see regularly during the rest of the year. But for people who are the caregivers for a parent, spouse, partner, or other family member wh…

How to KonMari your academic life

On the first day of 2019, the reality show Tidying Up debuted. The show features tidying expert Marie Kondo and is based on her international best-seller, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. The 200-page manifesto details her approach to declutterin…

The scents in the hospital are from diseases you’ll never forget

There’s a pivotal scene in the 2007 Pixar movie Ratatouille, in which the restaurant critic Anton Ego takes a first bite of the movie’s titular food. He is then whisked back to a moment in his childhood, during which his mom provides love a…

Patients with severe autism: medical and dental care in the community

The pediatrician kept on telling me that everything was fine. What could possibly be wrong? His motor skills were right on time, if not a little early.  He even had emerging problem-solving skills. He did things like push a chair up to a shelf to climb…

Seeking mastery in medicine

A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD.com. Regardless of specialty, medical practice is challenging in today’s health care landscape. Increasing demands related to workload and job inefficiencies, an ever-increasing…

Easing a burden, one step at a time

The afternoon that I went for a walk with Linda* for the first time was one of the moments I’ve been proudest of as a hospice volunteer, odd though that may seem. I’d first met Linda a few months prior to that, when the late fall and winter light made …

How predictive analytics help advance population health

Take 100 patients who are candidates for colorectal screening. We know that a group of them will try to avoid the procedure or postpone it for as long as possible. Evidence of this, for example, would be rescheduling appointments multiple times to late…