by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Mar 29, 2019 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Quality Payment Program
A recent column in Med Page Today by David Nash draws attention to the quality measure development process as well as its funding model by CMS. My comment in response was not published in Med Page (shocking!), so I thought I’d post it here: “Thank you for...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Mar 27, 2019 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Quality Payment Program
A recent column in Med Page Today by David Nash draws attention to the frustrating issue of the quality measure development process (as well as its funding model). If any wound care practitioner has looked at their Quality and Resource Use Report (QRUR), you might...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Mar 25, 2019 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
Mysterious Sepsis in a Dialysis Patient I have been taking care of a young woman with Type 1 diabetes who lost her kidney transplant about a year ago. She suffers from all the complications of diabetes, and is on home peritoneal dialysis. When I first saw her, she had...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Mar 14, 2019 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
I have the nurses leave the dressing they just removed on a chuck or on top of the trash so that I can look at it. It is amazing what you can learn from a discarded wound dressing. I’ve blogged previously about the fact that frankly bloody drainage is increasingly...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Mar 11, 2019 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
84 year old man with a history of lymphoma but is purportedly disease free. Severe peripheral edema began 2 years ago. He says he developed this very large ulcer after minor trauma. His skin perfusion pressure is normal (68 mmHg), he has a biphasic PVR and strong DP...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Mar 11, 2019 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
This is a retired surgeon with venous insufficiency. Whenever his compression garments become old, his leg swelling worsens and an old surgical scar on the lateral leg re-opens. Lymphatic fluid begins draining out of the PERI-WOUND area after a cleaning the area...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Mar 11, 2019 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, US Wound Registry
In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was cursed by the gods to spend eternity rolling a boulder up a hill, only to have it roll down again. In the March issue of TWC, I talk about my Sisyphean Mondays with heart failure patients, who represent a quarter of my wound care...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Mar 7, 2019 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
Poison Ivy – treated with topical and systemic steroids… and a doctor’s excuse for hiring a yard crew.
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Mar 5, 2019 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
Allow my assistant to demonstrate the ease with which they may be applied….so why don’t more people who treat venous patients know about this option? This is not a long term solution for edema.
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Mar 4, 2019 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Quality Payment Program
In 2013 we were winding down the analysis needed to create the Wound Healing Index (WHI), a mathematical model to stratify wounds by their likelihood of healing. The goal was to enable the reporting of honest healing rates. Susan Horn and I have published a lot about...
