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Derma Care Access Network

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Blog


Featured
Advocating for Consistent Federal Health Plan Guidelines on Vitiligo
Jun 16, 2025
Advocating for Consistent Federal Health Plan Guidelines on Vitiligo
Jun 16, 2025
Jun 16, 2025
Patients and Medicare Both Forced to Pay More
Oct 14, 2024
Patients and Medicare Both Forced to Pay More
Oct 14, 2024
Oct 14, 2024
Health Policy is Missing from Medical Training
Oct 2, 2024
Health Policy is Missing from Medical Training
Oct 2, 2024

Training to become a doctor is notoriously grueling. Yet despite the thousands of hours of education, there’s one topic that’s not often taught: how to navigate insurer’s utilization management tactics.  

Oct 2, 2024
Vying for Vitiligo Treatment
Aug 26, 2024
Vying for Vitiligo Treatment
Aug 26, 2024

People who have patchy skin discoloration caused by vitiligo often experience social stigma and employment discrimination. The autoimmune disorder is also associated with a five-fold increase in risk for depression. Given these serious harms, why would some state Medicaid programs deny treatment for the condition?

Aug 26, 2024
Skin Patients Struggle with Non-Medical Switching
Aug 25, 2023
Skin Patients Struggle with Non-Medical Switching
Aug 25, 2023

Sometimes patients with skin conditions finally find a medication that works for them – only to be pushed off of it by their health plan. It’s a practice known as “non-medical switching.” 

Aug 25, 2023
Comfort in One’s Own Skin: The Case for Regular Skin Cancer Screening
Feb 1, 2023
Comfort in One’s Own Skin: The Case for Regular Skin Cancer Screening
Feb 1, 2023

Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer. It strikes one in five Americans and accounts for one-third of all U.S. cancer diagnoses. But, skin cancer is “cancer that patients can see,” and when detected early, it’s highly treatable. 

Feb 1, 2023
Protecting Patients’ Skin and Skin Patients this Winter
Nov 15, 2022
Protecting Patients’ Skin and Skin Patients this Winter
Nov 15, 2022

As thermostats turn up, clocks turn back and the calendar turns toward the holidays, ’tis the season for cold, blustery air and dry, flaky skin.

The good news is, November is Healthy Skin Month.

Nov 15, 2022
A Vicious Circle Connects Eczema and Mental Illness
Oct 11, 2022
A Vicious Circle Connects Eczema and Mental Illness
Oct 11, 2022

While the interconnectedness between eczema – a chronic inflammatory skin disease – and mental health conditions – notably anxiety and depression – is indisputable, it is also manageable.

Oct 11, 2022
How Telehealth Is Shaping the Future of Dermatological Care
May 4, 2021
How Telehealth Is Shaping the Future of Dermatological Care
May 4, 2021

Before the pandemic, I assumed that dermatological care needed to be provided in person. Using telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic has taught me that is no longer the case.

May 4, 2021
Insurers Save Costs at Cost of Skin Patients
Apr 13, 2021
Insurers Save Costs at Cost of Skin Patients
Apr 13, 2021

Everyone, it seemed, was willing to help patients access medication without delay when COVID-19 took hold last year. Some health insurers waived out-of-pocket costs while others suspended prior authorization. One state issued a total ban on step therapy.

Apr 13, 2021
Access Denied! How to Get the Care You Need
Mar 24, 2021
Access Denied! How to Get the Care You Need
Mar 24, 2021

The ever-changing insurance landscape impacts access to eczema care and treatment. We’ll help you sort things out.

Mar 24, 2021
Expert Perspectives on the Clinical Impact of Non-Medical Therapeutic Switching
Mar 19, 2021
Expert Perspectives on the Clinical Impact of Non-Medical Therapeutic Switching
Mar 19, 2021

Adam Friedman, MD, FAAD, provides insight into how and why insurance companies implement non-medical therapeutic switching and what health care providers can do to mitigate its impact on patient care.

Mar 19, 2021
Lymphoma Rashes: Symptoms and Treatments
Sep 19, 2020
Lymphoma Rashes: Symptoms and Treatments
Sep 19, 2020

When most people think of lymphoma symptoms, a rash isn’t usually something that comes to mind. For some types of lymphoma rashes aren’t an issue, but rashes are a symptom in several different lymphomas.

Sep 19, 2020
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Jan 21, 2020
Stress, Skin & Step Therapy
Jan 21, 2020

Stress is a common response to skin conditions.  It may also be making those skin conditions worse.

Jan 21, 2020
Pushing for a Step in the Right Direction
Dec 16, 2019
Pushing for a Step in the Right Direction
Dec 16, 2019

As a dermatologist, it is my job to take the clues the skin provides and interpret these to do my very best to diagnose, monitor and treat my patients.  Insurance companies sometimes make that difficult.

Dec 16, 2019
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Nov 12, 2019
Of Sweat and Stigma
Nov 12, 2019

Everyone sweats. Whether it is breaking a sweat at the gym or walking to work on a hot day, perspiration is the body’s natural cooling mechanism. But for about 5% of the population, sweating can be abnormal, excessive and uncontrollable. 

That’s due to a rare condition called hyperhidrosis.

Nov 12, 2019
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Apr 30, 2019
For Skin Patients, The Waiting Never Ends
Apr 30, 2019

If you live in Philadelphia, you may wait 78 days. In Cedar Rapids, 91 days.  According to a new report, long waits for dermatology appointments – for both new and returning patients – have become the norm.  And that’s a problem.

Apr 30, 2019
"I'm Calling About Paul"
Feb 25, 2019
"I'm Calling About Paul"
Feb 25, 2019

Paul has been coming to our dermatology office for years.  He has painful psoriasis; after years of trying different medications he finally found one that controls his symptoms.  Then Paul changed insurance companies in the middle of his treatment.

Feb 25, 2019
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Nov 20, 2018
Capitol Hill Event Spotlights Step Therapy
Nov 20, 2018

Devastating.  Awful.  Miserable.  That’s how patients and advocates described step therapy during a recent Derma Care Access Network policy panel on Capitol Hill.  

Nov 20, 2018
Eczema Patients and Providers Battle Insurers for Access
Oct 4, 2018
Eczema Patients and Providers Battle Insurers for Access
Oct 4, 2018

Let me share the story of one of my patients who suffers from severe eczema.  

Oct 4, 2018
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Apr 26, 2018
Cost Sharing is Costing Skin Patients their Medication
Apr 26, 2018

After spending time and money to see a dermatologist, many patients with acne fail to fill their prescription. Cost sharing is the culprit, according to a recently published study.

Apr 26, 2018

 

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