Kentucky 45th in the
Nation for Healthcare

Source The Commonwealth Fund

Kevin Kavanagh, MD, FACS - Resume

Kevin T. Kavanagh, MD, MS completed a residency in Otolaryngology (Ear, Nose and Throat) in 1983 at the University of Iowa.  He was also earned a Master’s Degree and in 1983 was awarded a State Recognition Award from the Lions Clubs of Iowa for his work with speech and hearing.  He obtained board certification in Otolaryngology in 1983.

From 1983 to 1992, Dr Kavanagh was on the faculty at the University of Tennessee, Memphis. During this time he also served as consultant otolaryngologist at St Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.  While at the University of Tennessee he developed a tristate program funded by Maternal and Child Health for Pediatric Indigent Care Clinics in Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi.

Dr. Kavanagh has also served on a Federal Maternal and Child Health Grant Review Board and has also consulted for NASA regarding medical databases. He has published over 40 papers in peer review journals and has served as the Software Review and Computer Applications Editor for The Annals of Otology, Rhinology and Laryngology.

In 1992, Dr. Kavanagh entered private practice in Somerset, KY. Somerset, is located in Southeastern Kentucky in the Appalachian region.  He has been active in tobacco cessation and community education.  One of his projects was the encouragement of restaurants in Somerset, KY to go smoke free during the “Great American Smoke Out.”  This project had a 70% participation rate in Somerset, KY. Dr. Kavanagh was awarded a State Recognition Award by the American Cancer Society in 1997 for his tobacco advocacy.  In 2002, Dr. Kavanagh launched a tobacco education website which is receiving over 40,000 user visits per month - www.entusa.com .

Other activities include the publishing of an extensive patient and physician medical website “ENT USA” and the development of the first online accredited CME course for Ear, Nose and Throat Physicians.  The CME course was developed in conjunction with the University of Kentucky.  In July of 2008, Dr. Kavanagh launched the online website “World Articles in Ear, Nose and Throat” - www.waent.org .  WAENT is an online ENT Journal which is designed to combine manuscripts with demonstration videos, creating a true multimedia teaching environment for presentation of clinical and research articles.

Dr. Kavanagh founded Health Watch USA to promote transparency and patient advocacy www.healthwatchusa.org.  Health Watch USA received certification as a “Community Leader” for healthcare transparency by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Dept. of Health and Human Resources (ARHQ).  Health Watch USA, organizes and hosts yearly conference on health care transparency and patient advocacy.

Dr. Kavanagh also serves on the Socioeconomic and Grassroots Committee of the Board of Governors for the American Academy of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery and on Jan. 11, 2005, was appointed by the Governor to the Kentucky Board of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology.

Dr. Kavanagh is an avid sailor and has developed an online sailing educational website
( www.sailingcourse.com ) with US SAILING, the USA’s national governing body of sailing.  He serves on US SAILING’s Training Committee and National Faculty.