by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 25, 2015 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
The Mayflower left the port of Southampton in August 1620 but was forced to put into Plymouth, England for repairs. The 102 passengers and 30 crew members finally left Plymouth for America on September 16, 1620. Blown off course by storms, it wasn’t until December...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 25, 2015 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
Here’s one more strange disorder that causes staining of the tissues. Ochronosis is a syndrome caused by the accumulation of homogentisic acid in connective tissues. The phenomenon was first described by Rudolf Virchow in 1865. The condition was named after the...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 24, 2015 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Quality Payment Program
CMS recently published a final rule that specifies criteria that eligible professionals (EPs) must meet in order to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs. EHR Incentive Programs Final Rule Provisions The new...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 23, 2015 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Miscellaneous Musings, Pressure Cooker: Rethinking Pressure Ulcers, US Wound Registry
As the post-payment review process for HBOT rolls out across the USA, hyperbaric clinicians are going to need to do a lot of thinking about the role of hyperbaric oxygen therapy, their approach to patient care, and their relationship to the medical record. CMS is...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 20, 2015 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
In the upcoming November edition of Today’s Wound Clinic, Helen Gelly, MD has written a very informative “Educational Note to Provider.” Helen, and Joe Darrah, the Managing Editor of TWC have graciously allowed me to share this The prior authorization...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 19, 2015 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Miscellaneous Musings, Nutrition & Wound Healing, Pressure Cooker: Rethinking Pressure Ulcers, US Wound Registry
http://www.vacadsci.org/vjsArchives/v8/8-1/Physicians.pdf In preparation for Thanksgiving, I thought I’d read a little more about medicine in the early colonies and chanced upon this article about physicians at early Jamestown. It makes for sad reading. There’s a lot...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 18, 2015 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
Last Wednesday I showed you hemosiderin deposits in an unusual location. This week you can see skin changes that mimic classic hemosiderin but are not due to venous insufficiency. Iron overload, also known as haemochromatosis, is an accumulation of iron in the body...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 17, 2015 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
Chartbook on Effective Treatment, National Healthcare Quality and Disparities. This Effective Treatment chartbook is part of a family of documents and tools that support the National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report (QDR). The QDR includes annual reports to...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 16, 2015 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Miscellaneous Musings, Pressure Cooker: Rethinking Pressure Ulcers, US Wound Registry
Last week I took a walk down memory lane to tell you about the way the field of hyperbaric medicine nearly ended in 1999. We got a reprieve during which we could have changed the course we were on, but we didn’t. Currently, Medicare has initiated a pilot program...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 12, 2015 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Miscellaneous Musings, Pressure Cooker: Rethinking Pressure Ulcers, US Wound Registry
If you are getting ready for Thanksgiving you might consider putting lobster on the menu. When colonists arrived in the New World, lobsters were almost certainly part of their diet. English settlers reported catching lobsters in nets as early as 1605 and Captain John...