About Dr. Fife
Dr. Fife is a world-renowned wound care physician. She is the Director of the Wound Care Center at CHI St. Luke’s The Woodlands Hospital, CMO of Intellicure, Inc., Exec. Director of the US Wound Registry & Editor of Today’s Wound Clinic.
Report Honest Healing Rates
It’s time for Wound Care physicians and providers to stand up for truly honest outcomes and transparent quality reporting. If we don’t we may see our entire profession wiped out. Click here to read more.
Resource Room
Explore Dr. Fife’s ever-growing library of helpful content related to Wound Care and MIPS. From videos to instructional materials, this knowledge base is completely yours to enjoy and use.
Latest Posts
Laundry, NPWT and Life after Death – This Week’s Undaunted Spirit
This beautiful lady (who is wearing a KCI VAC in the photo), is herself seriously ill, but she’s making the most of life after death. She is my definition of an undaunted spirit.
Wounds are a SYMPTOM – What’s the Diagnosis? Crowdsourcing Tough Wound Diagnoses
We need a diagnosis for this patient.
We Can Predict Whether a Venous Leg Ulcer Will Heal – We Know Not Everyone is Happy About That
A few weeks ago we published a manuscript about the development of the Wound Healing Index for Venous Leg Ulcers (VLUs). The link is below. What is the VLU WHI? The VLU WHI makes it possible to predict at the initial visit whether a venous ulcer will heal with...
Finalized Policy, Payment, and Quality Provisions Changes to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for Calendar Year 2020 | CMS
Here’s a link to the fact sheet on the final rule - stay tuned for my interpretation of its impact on wound management practitioners.
Wheels on Water and the Undaunted Spirit Award
With his permission, I’m posting this amazing photo of my friend and former patient, Kevin – whose mobility limitations do not keep him down. He’s also helping others experience the challenge and excitement of hunting, even if they hunt on wheels. You can support his...
The Doctor is Still Out
I guess I’d better figure out the doctor’s office setting.
The Hospital Based Outpatient Department – in 2020 the Doctor is NOT In
Hospitals can decide that they want direct supervision of HBOT, but that doesn’t mean it will be reimbursed. Stay tuned.
Wound Care Compare is Here
The payment reform train has left the station. Are you aboard?
Reaping the Whirlwind
We are reaping what was sown a decade ago. Get ready – there’s a big storm coming.
Did Hyperbaric Medicine and Wound Management Practitioners Miss the Payment Reform Train?
Five years ago, Dr. Guy Clifton, a Robert Wood Johnson Fellow, neurosurgeon, Congressional aid and author of the book Flatlined: Resuscitating American Medicine, spoke at the fall SAWC in a poorly attended session. Most Hyperbaric Medicine and Wound care practitioners...
Reflections on the Development of the MRI and Character
I can’t think of anyone I admire who has had an easy life. Just as fire purifies gold, trials produce character. Hang in there.
The Health Economic Impact of Living Cell Tissue Products (and Why This Matters) – Guest Blog by Dr. Helen Gelly
Guest blog post by Dr. Helen Gelly Using the claims data from Medicare that are publicly available, a newly published study which I co-authored looked at various parameters that will eventually impact the bundled pricing payment model. Because a number of insurance...
HBOT and Brain Injury – Guest Blog by Dick Clarke
Guest blog post by Dick Clarke of National Baromedical Services On August 1 of this year, a bill entitled the “North Carolina Veterans Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Treatment and Recovery Act” (House Bill 50 / SL 2019-175)...
WPS Coverage for Debridement and What We REALLY Need to Worry About
This is a much, much larger issue, and one that no one wants to talk about.
Breaking News on Site Neutrality
Evidence has been accumulating for years that site neutrality is coming. I don’t think it is an issue of whether but when. This executive order might bring it a bit closer, but doesn’t implement it.
Cellular Couture for the Wound Fashionista
I like to think of CTPs as couture clothing. Does one of them make me look SMALLER?
How NPWT Changed Wound Care and Why We Need to Think Like Oncologists
Without using the Wound Healing Index to justify the need for advanced therapeutics like NPWT, the future of wound care could look like it did in the early 1990s: dressing the wound and praying for patients to heal.
The “Art” of Wound Care
I recently spoke at a conference where an artist depicted each speaker’s presentation visually. This is how he interpreted my rapid fire, “Current state of wound care in 15 minutes.”
He flexed his arms across his chest, eyes deviated to the right, and had a generalized seizure.” Other than that, what can go wrong with hyperbaric oxygen therapy?
Have you ever seen an oxygen toxicity seizure?
Wound Diaries, Club Sandwich Dressings and What That Means to the Future of Wound Management
For more than 10 years, we’ve had a way to select dressings more consistently and appropriately, but no one has wanted to use it.
Pondering DNA Assay of Wounds: It only Matters When it Matters
I have been using DNA assay of wounds for a decade, but am still trying to figure out how best to employ this technology. Here’s an example of why it is needed at times: This is a frail lady who is devoted to her dogs. Her wound had been making progress at...
Decreasing the Disadvantages of Medicare Advantage Plans When Patients Need a Cellular Product
An increasing percentage of my wound center patients have Medicare Advantage plans offered by private payers. As I’ve discussed on previous blogs, it’s getting very hard to use cellular and/or tissue-based products (CTPs) on chronic wound patients with...
Pizza University – Explaining Wound Management to Patients
Welcome to Pizza University for wound care! Check out the video below, and find out why we need to get rid of the cheese and hold the pesto:
Pyoderma Gangrenosum (PG): Not So Rare, and When in Doubt, Take a History.
Pyoderma Gangrenosum (PG) is one of the most painful wounds we see each year. It is called a “rare” disorder with an estimated incidence of 3 to 10 cases per million people per year.(1) That would mean there are about 20 new cases of PG in Houston, Texas each year....
My Staff Inspire Me (and a Wound Center Staff Photo Caption Contest)
Here’s my amazing staff and the CHI St. Luke’s Quarterly Mission and Annual Inspire Award event, honoring nominees and winners for The Woodlands' Campus. Our Wound Clinic team at CHI SLEH The Woodlands was nominated for “Team of the Year,” and our Program...
The Best Part About the Labor Day Holiday is Not Having to Fight the Traffic Driving to Work
If you are like me, the fun part about the Labor Day holiday is that there’s no traffic on Monday when you drive to work…
Real World Evidence for Real World Wounds
I am just going to say it. The majority of prospective trials in wound healing have enrolled subjects whose wounds were more likely to heal than not. While more “generalizable” trials (meaning, actually relevant to real patients) are underway or in the planning...
