My alarm goes off at 3:30 AM for some early charting. I love these pre-work hours on my own unpaid time. I went into debt for hundreds of thousands of dollars to have the human physical need for sleep trained out of me. A neat side effect of this is that it also wiped the…
It is 4:15 p.m. in my clinic, and I’m running an hour behind. One of my morning patients arrived acutely ill and thus required more of my time and attention than the schedule allotted for. Accordingly, every patient after that has ended up waiting for me. And, as I’m a cancer physician, each of them…
Comments closedAs a cancer physician, the amount of data I obtain on my patients is ever-increasing, along with options for cancer therapies. This is, as the saying goes, a good problem to have, but the amount of data management oncologists must do after hours (because there isn’t enough time in the clinic day) to keep up…
Comments closedI haven’t done one of these year-end round-ups before, but given 2022 marked the five year anniversary of the blog, it seemed a good year to start. For each post, I’ve selected a favorite passage to highlight (different from the preview passage you’ll see on the home page). First, the top five most read blog…
Comments closed(A parody, except happening everywhere.) I (48, F) had to do one of those “peer-to-peer” calls with an insurance physician (undisclosed-age, M). I know, it’s a commonplace task now, what’s the big deal, etc., but let me explain. From the start of the conversation, tons of red flags. First of all, he won’t tell me…
Comments closedWelcome to Episode 4 of The Prior Authorization Games: where the odds are never in your favor. In this, Episode 4, I explore: What motivates doctor’s to work for insurance companies? And in case you missed the prior episodes of The Prior Authorization Games: Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 The call rang through, and…
Comments closedIs the duty of the physician to capture the patient stories, or capture a billing code? In July 2018, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed revamping Medicare payments for office visits. CMS plans to collapse Medicare fees for levels 2 through 5 office visits into a single price beginning in 2019, as…
Comments closedPost updated 3/13/19 Welcome to Episode 3 of The Prior Authorization Games: Where the Odds are Never in Your Favor. In which I chronicle more examples of how to fight insurance company denial of services. My latest and most flabbergasting interactions with the insurance companies when requesting “prior authorization” for necessary medical care for my…
2 CommentsPost updated 1/20/19 Fighting insurance company denial of prior authorizations Greetings Readers. I thought I would try something new and start somewhat of a series. If you didn’t see my original post on prior authorizations, this link will take you right to it. Last week I found myself on the phone, yet again arguing on…
2 Commentsupdated 3/15/19 I am not the first physician blogger to write about the difficulties of insurance prior authorization denials and appeals. But recent occurrences in my own practice have been so convoluted that I feel they must be shared. The nonsensical denials would almost cause one to laugh, if not for the reality that each…
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