Hi, @AnthemBCBS: I have a preemie baby who can’t get his life-saving medication because you won’t cover it without me speaking to someone about pre-authorization. For 3 days I’ve been leaving messages and getting lost in phone trees. Can someone please DM me? We need to talk.
It's amazing how many of these little kids with COVID are presenting with croup-like symptoms. Whoever said this was a 'mild strain' was not a pediatrician.
I am seeing a child today with the most terrifying chief complaint in pediatrics: "Mother thinks something is wrong with her child."
Mothers are usually correct. I will be ordering tests.
These are our new vision check eye charts for kids who aren’t comfortable with letters yet. Almost all four-year-old boys refer to the symbol in the middle upper line as “a butt”. The girls say it is a heart.
9 year old patient: I want to be a doctor like you when I grow up.
Me: That's great; let me know when you're in medical school and you can come hang out with me in the office.
9 yo: But you're old; won't you be dead by then?
☹️☹️☹️☹️
Then I spoke with someone else an hour later and they told me that @AnthemBCBS 'escalated the claim' but it is still not approved. This patient's father and I have each spent hours on this and we are still no closer to getting this done.
UPDATE: thanks to #MedTwitter someone did reach out to me but we still have no resolution. At 3PM I was told that the situation was resolved but when the family called the pharmacy, they were told that it was actually NOT authorized.
Me: Prescribe albuterol
Insurance company: We do not cover albuterol. Please prescribe Xopenex.
Pharmacy: Xopenex not approved for children under 4. Please prescribe albuterol.
Child: Still wheezing.
In my practice, I take care of a lot of children of physicians. All of these children (including my own) are fully vaccinated. Against COVID. Against HPV. Against influenza. And everything else they are eligible for. Every single one. #ThisIsOurShot
Dear media (and parents),
RSV is not a new virus. Yes, it's bad this year, but it's been with us for a while. Kids with colds do not need RSV tests in our office. You do not need to go to the ED with mild cold symptoms worried this is RSV.
Love,
Pediatricians
As a pediatrician, a parent and the son of a pharmacist, I have no bigger pet peeve than asking families to give ridiculous quantities of liquid medication. It’s okay to round the 2.85ml up to 3.
I’ve been out of work all week with a mild case of #COVID. I tested b/c I care about my patients.
If I followed the advice of this doctor, I would have exposed children and their families to COVID. Babies. Kids with cancer. Grandparents.
Please think about others and be kind.
