Many songs and famous refrains flooded my mind as we transitioned into 2025. “Living on a thin line,” “It’s all over now, baby blue,” and “Can’t find my way home” were some of the notable downers. On the …
Category: KevinMD
Health care’s modern-day Wicked: How insurers label doctors as the villains
The box office hit Wicked is a modern retelling of the classic Wizard of Oz, where the Wizard labels Elphaba as “wicked” in his pursuit of control and greed. Much like the Wizard, who manipulates society by changing Elphaba’s name and…
Why professionalism in health care shouldn’t depend on appearance [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes! In this episode, we sit down with neurologist Lealani Mae Acosta to explore the intersection of beauty standards, professionalism, and gender disparities in medicine. From…
Even medical practices aren’t immune from the high cost of employer-provided health insurance
As a licensed practitioner of family medicine who is also the majority owner of a small medical practice, I feel a responsibility to provide top-quality care for my patients as well as comprehensive health insurance coverage for my employees. The probl…
Small moments that made 2024 unforgettable
Frank Sinatra’s 1965 hit, “It was a very good year,” framed the benchmarks of a life well-lived through relationships at various ages: when he was 17, “small-town girls … on the village green”; at 21, “city gir…
Tobacco’s time warp: How centuries of smoke obscured our future
In the halls of the Smithsonian, we often contemplate how the past shapes our present. But a groundbreaking new study on tobacco use forces us to consider how our present actions will dramatically alter our future. Research published in The Lancet Publ…
Telehealth under threat: Why Congress must act to save Medicare coverage [PODCAST]
Subscribe to The Podcast by KevinMD. Watch on YouTube. Catch up on old episodes! Join us for a conversation with patient advocate Stephanie Marcovici as we explore the potential rollback of Medicare telehealth coverage in 2025. Stephanie shares her per…
Why women doctors spend more time on EHRs and what it means for patient care
Last week, while on vacation, my husband and I were swimming in a salt-water inlet when a rainstorm hit. (Actually, I was indulging in my favorite leisure-time pursuit: floating prone, chin resting on my forearm, on a lime green inner tube.) Fortunatel…
When the caregiver becomes the patient: lessons from my experiences in the health care system
As a physician, I’ve spent years working to provide care that’s compassionate and focused on the patient. But everything changed when I found myself on the other side of the system—as a patient. Suddenly, I saw health care through a new len…
Inside the system that’s costing health care billions every year
It all begins with a political movement for national health in the 1970s. There are no “health systems,” just doctors and hospitals. Fee-for-service is determined by conventional principles of cost accounting, in which payment for services …
