Duke Health Provider
Joseph Y. Cao, MD
Pediatric Radiologist
Duke Health Provider
Board Certified
American Board of Radiology, Diagnostic Radiology
American Board of Radiology, Pediatric Radiology
About Me
Current Appointments and Affiliations
- Assistant Professor of Radiology, Radiology, Pediatric Radiology 2023
Languages I Speak
English
Training and Education
Board Certification
American Board of Radiology, Diagnostic Radiology
American Board of Radiology, Pediatric Radiology
Fellowship
Pediatric Radiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 2021
Residency
Diagnostic Radiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 2020
Internal Medicine, Mercy Health - The Jewish Hospital (Ohio), 2016
Education
MD, University of South Carolina, 2015
Clinical Focus and Research
Publications and Grants
Grants1
Academic Articles15
Conference Papers3
- Slater, Bethany J., Sean Pfaff, Manish N. Shah, and Joseph Cao. “Vascular Diagnosis in the Pediatric Patient.” J Vasc Surg, September 19, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvs.2025.09.031.
- Morin, Cara E., Joseph Y. Cao, Lindsay M. Griffin, Erin B. Macdonald, Morgan P. McBee, Bruce L. McHam, Scott H. Robertson, Elizabeth Tang, and Gary R. Schooler. “Best practices for pediatric liver MRI: guidelines from members of the Society for Pediatric Radiology Magnetic Resonance and Abdominal Imaging Committees.” Pediatr Radiol, September 10, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-025-06383-3.
- Clark, Darin P., Joseph Y. Cao, and Cristian T. Badea. “Denoising pediatric cardiac photon-counting CT data with sparse coding and data-adaptive, self-supervised deep learning.” Med Phys 52, no. 7 (July 2025): e17918. https://doi.org/10.1002/mp.17918.
- Debnath, Pradipta, Nadeen K Abu Ata, Joseph Y. Cao, Shailee V. Lala, Archana Malik, Erica L. Riedesel, Gary R. Schooler, et al. “Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography for suspected cholangiopathy in children and young adults: a multi-reader agreement study.” In Pediatr Radiol, 55:479–87, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-025-06173-x.
- Clark, D. P., F. R. Schwartz, J. Y. Cao, and C. T. Badea. “Denoising pediatric cardiac photon-counting CT data using volumetric vision transformers and unpaired training data.” In Progress in Biomedical Optics and Imaging Proceedings of SPIE, Vol. 12925, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3006863.
- El-Gharbawy, Areeg, Joseph Cao, Surekha Pendyal, Cindy Li, Lauren Workman, Alisha Mavis, Ashlee Stiles, and Sarah Young. “TRIHEPTANOIN FOR PATIENTS WITH GLYCOGEN STORAGE DISEASE TYPE I (GSDI): PILOT CLINICAL TRIAL RESULTS.” In Molecular Genetics and Metabolism, 138:107409–107409. Elsevier BV, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymgme.2023.107409.
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
- UHC Community Plan
- 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.
External Relationships
This faculty member (or a member of their immediate family) has reported outside activities with the companies or institutions listed below. This information has been reported to the health system leadership and, when appropriate, management plans are in place to address potential conflicts of interest.
- Siemens Medical Solutions/Siemens Healthineers