When I talk to medical practices about hierarchical condition category (HCC) and risk-adjusted diagnosis coding, I receive a lot of questions that point to the existence of persistent urban legends! Let’s separate fact from fiction. Urban legend #1: CPT fee-for-service coding will be a distant memory when we switch from volume to value Not anytime […]
I spent my first two years of medical school collecting stories. I journaled about my thoughts in the anatomy lab. I wrote about what it was like to learn how to interview and examine patients, about the immense honor and privilege I felt just being able to don a white coat with a stethoscope around […]
“There’s no heartbeat.” Three words no one ever wants to hear. Three words no one ever wants to deliver. And yet, as a community of physicians, we deliver those crushing words on a daily basis. None of us would ever take the task of bearing this piece of news lightly, but for me, it was […]
I cannot get behind fat acceptance, or better stated in medical lingo as “normalizing obesity.” As a physician and as someone who has been obese or morbidly obese my adult life, I know first hand what it’s like to hate my body and feel ashamed of it. I still do this very moment as I […]
The California Department of Justice mandate to consult CURES (Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation) prior to prescribing, ordering, administering, or furnishing a Schedule II, II or IV controlled substance becomes effective on October 2, 2018. The law states that CURES must be consulted the first time a patient is prescribed, ordered or administered a Schedule […]
I’m proud to announce that I have partnered with Health eCareers to launch Careers by KevinMD.com: a new, dedicated career center ready to support your career at every stage. Whether you’re ready to make the leap to a new job or just keeping your ear to the ground, there’s something here for every medical professional. […]
Prior authorizations (PAs) have become increasingly burdensome for providers — they contribute to 92 percent of care delays and an estimated 77 million are submitted manually each year. In fact, the process has become so burdensome that many physicians get fed up with the process end up writing for less-effective prescriptions because they know the […]
Despite meticulous time management and delegation as a doctor, there were times when I found cobwebs on the laundry left on the clothesline too long, or a moldy school lunch or squashed banana forgotten at the bottom of a school bag at home. I would ensure all the important school dates were in my diary, […]
As I sat in a frozen yogurt store a couple of years back, I watched as two young men pulled up in an expensive vehicle. They were wearing athletic attire from a private faith-affiliated university in the neighborhood. Both grabbed sample cups and cup-by-cup consumed about ten dollars-worth of yogurt each before jestfully yelling “Gracias” […]
I stuck myself with a hypodermic needle the other day. Intentionally. The first time in over 25 years of doctoring. More surprising, a six-year-old patient told me to do it, so I had to. The boy, who I’ll call Tyler, came to the office with his father and had a large ganglion cyst on the […]
