LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Michael Kuduk, M.D., a Winchester pediatrician, was installed as the 173rd President of the Kentucky Medical Association (KMA) during the organization’s Annual Meeting.
A native of New Jersey, Dr. Kuduk is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Kentucky Children’s Hospital. He graduated from the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (now Rutgers Medical School) in Newark. He completed his residency at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas. Dr. Kuduk previously served as KMA Board Chair, Vice President, and Chair of the Kentucky Physicians Political Action Committee (KPPAC). He is a 2018 graduate of the Kentucky Physicians Leadership Institute. In his inaugural address, Dr. Kuduk discussed his goals for the year, including a focus on prior authorization reform, which was indicated as one of the leading causes of physician burnout in a KMA membership survey in 2022.“I will continue to advocate for prior authorization reform, an issue that we can all agree on in our daily lives and the lives of our patients. Many of our physicians came to Frankfort to advocate on the issue, and we plan to put an even greater focus on it this year. We know that telling a story can be the most effective form of advocacy, and we all have many patient stories to tell showing how prior authorizations negatively impact the health of our patients.”Doctor Kuduk’s desire to address the issue was also overwhelmingly supported by the KMA House of Delegates, which passed a resolution calling for prior authorization reform and a separate resolution citing prior authorization as one of the principal reasons for physician burnout.
