Katherine O. Cashen, DO
Pediatric Critical Care Medicine Specialist
My Locations
About Me
I am an attending physician in the pediatric cardiac intensive care unit. I care for children with congenital and acquired heart disease and work with a multidisciplinary team of surgeons, cardiologists, nurse practitioners, and other providers. I chose a career in pediatric critical care medicine because caring for the sickest children is challenging but extremely rewarding. The best part of my job is the day a very sick child goes home. Each child and family teaches me something that will help me in caring for another child. I am originally from Michigan and enjoy having more than three months of nice weather in North Carolina to participate in outdoor activities.
- Professor of Pediatrics, Pediatrics, Critical Care Medicine 2024
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Training and Education
Clinical Focus and Research
My research has focused on outcomes in children with congenital heart disease and optimal anticoagulation strategy for pediatric extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.
- Flores, Saul, Christine M. Riley, Peter Sassalos, Jennifer Smerling, Katherine Cashen, Christopher W. Mastropietro, and Collaborative Research from the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society (CoRe-PCICS) Investigators. “ALCAPA in Children with Complex Congenital Heart Disease: A Multicenter Study.” Pediatr Cardiol 46, no. 3 (March 2025): 610–20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00246-024-03473-1.
- Flores, Saul, Rohit S. Loomba, Christopher W. Mastropietro, Eva Cheung, Venugopal Amula, Monique R. Radman, David M. Kwiatkowski, et al. “Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in Children with Pulmonary Atresia and Intact Ventricular Septum: Mortality and Associated Outcomes.” Pediatr Cardiol, January 10, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00246-024-03764-7.
- Mastropietro, Christopher W., Peter Sassalos, Christine M. Riley, Kurt Piggott, Kiona Y. Allen, Elizabeth Prentice, Raya Safa, et al. “Clinical Outcomes After Tracheostomy in Children With Single Ventricle Physiology: Collaborative Research From the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society Multicenter Cohort, 2010-2021.” Pediatr Crit Care Med 25, no. 8 (August 1, 2024): 728–39. https://doi.org/10.1097/PCC.0000000000003523.
- Cashen, K., A. Martin, and A. Aly. “Child with Altered Mental Status.” In Symptom-Based Approach to Pediatric Neurology, 11–24, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-10494-7_2.
- Cashen, K., S. Sehgal, and H. L. Walters. “Pediatric mechanical circulatory support.” In Cardiac Emergencies in Children: A Practical Approach to Diagnosis and Management, 201–18, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73754-6_12.
- Sarnaik, S., K. Cashen, and A. P. Sarnaik. “Emergency presentation of heart disease.” In Cardiac Emergencies in Children: A Practical Approach to Diagnosis and Management, 1–15, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73754-6_1.
- Atkins, Christopher A., Katherine Cashen, Kimberly Jackson, Ziv Beckerman, and Jennifer I. Sherwin. “Pulmonary embolism from right ventricular myxoma in a child with undiagnosed Carney complex.” In Cardiol Young, 34:1363–65, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1047951124000684.
- Hamilton, Makenzie, Elizabeth Thompson, Jennifer Sherwin, and Katherine Cashen. “A NEW DIAGNOSIS OF SPTA-1 HEMOLYTIC ANEMIA AND MITRAL STENOSIS IN AN INFANT PRESENTING IN SHOCK.” In CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE, Vol. 52, 2024.
- Khan, Mohammad, Chris Smith, John Dentel, Ahmad Farooqi, and Katherine Cashen. “EARLY EXTUBATION GUIDELINE DECREASES LENGTH OF MECHANICAL VENTILATION IN PEDIATRIC CARDIAC SURGERY.” In CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE, 50:642–642, 2022.
Insurance Accepted
Duke Health contracts with most major health insurance carriers and transplant networks, including the ones listed below.
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Aetna
- Aetna Choice POS, Aetna Choice POS II
- Aetna Elect Choice HMO, Aetna Open Access Elect Choice
- Aetna Health Network Only, Aetna Health Network Option
- Aetna HMO
- Aetna Limited Benefit Insurance PPO
- Aetna Managed Choice POS
- Aetna Medicare Assure Plan (HMO D-SNP)
- Aetna Medicare Eagle Plan (PPO)
- Aetna Medicare Essential Plan (PPO)
- Aetna Medicare Value Plan (HMO)
- Aetna Open Access HMO, Open Access Aetna Select, Aetna Open Access Managed Choice
- Aetna Open Choice PPO
- Aetna PCP Coordinated POS Plan
- Aetna Quality Point of Service (QPOS)
- Aetna Select HMO
- Aetna Traditional Choice
- Aetna Voluntary Indemnity Group Plan
- Aetna Whole Health – Duke WakeMed WKCC
- Aetna/CVS Health
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Ambetter
- Ambetter of North Carolina
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Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC
- Blue Advantage
- Blue Medicare (HMO, PPO)*
- Blue Options (123, PPO, HSA)
- Blue Select
- NC State Employees Health Plan
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*Duke HomeCare and Hospice does not participate in the plan.
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Cigna
- Cigna Behavioral Health (*Limited eligibility)
- Cigna Choice Plus
- Cigna Connect Individual Family Plan
- Cigna Open Access
- Cigna Open Access Plus
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*Please call Cigna Behavioral Heath to see if the provider is participating in your plan.
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Duke Group Plans
- Duke Basic
- Duke Select
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Experience Health
- Experience Health Medicare Advantage (HMO) Plan
- Gateway Health Alliance
- Healthgram
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Humana
- Humana Choice (PPO)
- Humana Choice - Medicare Advantage (PPO)
- Humana ChoiceCare - Medicare Advantage (PPO)
- Humana Gold Choice - Medicare Advantage (PFFS)
- Humana Gold Plus - Medicare Advantage (HMO)
- Humana Medicare Advantage Group Plan - NC State Retirees
- MedCost
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Medicare
- First Medicare Direct
- Medicare Part A
- Medicare Part B
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NC Medicaid
- AmeriHealth Caritas North Carolina
- Carolina Complete Health
- Healthy Blue
- NC Medicaid Direct
- WellCare of North Carolina
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TRICARE
- TRICARE Prime
- TRICARE Prime Remote
- TRICARE Select
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United Healthcare
- AARP Medicare Advantage Plan 2 (HMO-POS)
- AARP Medicare Complete (HMO, PPO)*
- AARP Medicare Complete Essential (HMO)*
- All Savers Alternate Funding
- All Savers Fully Insured
- United Healthcare (HMO, PPO, POS)**
- United Healthcare Charter/Charter Balance/Charter Plus
- United Healthcare Choice/Choice Plus
- United Healthcare Core/Core Essential
- United Healthcare Navigate/Navigate Plus/Navigate Balanced
- United Healthcare Option PPO
- United Healthcare Passport Connect Choice/Choice Plus
- United Healthcare Passport Connect Options PPO
- United Healthcare Select/Select Plus
- United Healthcare Shared Services - Harvard Pilgrim/UHC Options PPO Network
- United Medical Resources (UMR)
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*Duke HomeCare and Hospice and mental health providers do not participate with the plan.
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**Duke Health does not participate in UHC plans on the Health Insurance Marketplace.
Before scheduling your appointment, we strongly recommend you contact your insurance company to verify that the Duke Health location or provider you plan to visit is included in your network. Your insurance company will also be able to inform you of any co-payments, co–insurances, or deductibles that will be your responsibility. If you proceed in scheduling an appointment and your health insurance benefits do not participate with Duke, your out of pocket liability may be higher. We will contact you regarding your coverage and patient liability. If you are uninsured, learn more about our financial assistance policy.