Being "Driven" Crazy by Administrative Barriers

April 19, 2018 Issue 55

Being “Driven” Crazy by Administrative Barriers

Last week I had to get some work done on my car.

One may liken it to getting your yearly physical. Just a tune up, to make sure everything was running smoothly.

When it came time to pay the bill, I took out my credit card and happily paid. As do most other drivers. It is understood that routine maintenance is part of owning a car.

But here is where the similarities between car maintenance and human maintenance end.

At this point in the story, if the car was a person, the insurance company would likely come back and deny at least some part of the encounter, claiming that a procedure may not have been ‘medically necessary.’

KMA Featured in Special Edition of Medical News

The April issue of the statewide healthcare business publication Medical News features an eight page spread highlighting KMA. The issue focuses specifically on strategic planning, and details KMA’s successful 2013 strategic planning initiative, Focus Forward, which streamlined the association’s resources and centered its priorities.

With more than 12,000 subscribers, many of whom are healthcare policy experts and administrators, the issue features much positive coverage for KMA and its programs. It includes eight articles and more than two dozen photos, as well as a full page ad for KMA’s 2018 Annual Meeting.

All KMA members will receive a copy of the issue by mail. Medical News is also offering all members a complimentary one-year subscription to the publication. Visit medicalnews.md/KMA to sign up.

To view the web version of this special issue, please visit www.medicalnews.md .

Physicians Asked to Complete Continuing Education Survey

State medical associations and others are working on issues regarding needed changes to board certification. The American Board of Medical Specialties would like physician feedback on these issues and ask that individual physicians complete this survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/S5YLCN7 .

The survey deadline is May 11.

Megan Rajagopal Chooses Opportunities that Challenge Her

Megan Rajagopal is studying to become a neurosurgeon—a specialty she initially wasn’t considering.

Her father, Karuna, encouraged her to go into politics, a field she says he’s really into. But that didn’t interest her like medicine did. She took a biology class in seventh grade that solidified her passion for science and medicine. Growing up in California, she chose the health track in high school and majored in biology at the University of California at Los Angeles.

KMA Mourns the Passing of Former President Donald C. Barton, M.D.

Donald C. Barton, M.D., KMA President from 1987-1988, passed away April 7.

His obituary states, "He was a family practice physician, retiring in June 2000. Dr. Don served from 1980-1988 as one of only 10 physicians from across the U.S. for the Reagan-Bush National Advisory Committee. He was named to the GOP Hall of Fame in 1997, was president of the Kentucky Medical Association from 1987-1988, and received the Community Service Award in 1995. He served on the KEMPAC Board from 1972-2000."

KMA Partners with Kentucky Department for Public Health for “ReadyOp”

KMA members will begin receiving public health alerts from the Kentucky Department for Public Health (KDPH) through its partnership in the newly launched ReadyOp program.

ReadyOp is a communication tool developed by KDPH that operates with the goal of sending alerts and sharing public health related information quickly and efficiently. As a contact within the ReadyOp system, KMA will receive alerts directly from KDPH that will then be disseminated to members.

MEMBER NEWS

Mullins Named Physician

of the Year

KMA member Thomas Mullins, DO , was named Physician of the Year by the Saint Joseph London Foundation. Dr. Mullins is an Internal Medicine Hospitalist at Saint Joseph London Hospital.