I have posted blogs about the fact that the pricing of skin subs is continuously escalating. There are amniotic products out there now which are more than $3,000 cm2, and there is ZERO data to suggest that they are any better than amniotic products 100 times cheaper. This seems – well, insane.
Dr. Fife,
To me the root of the problem with CTP pricing is the ability of companies to set their own reimbursement rate by publishing a WAC (Wholesale Acquisition Price) of any amount they choose. There are a number of ways to fix the continuous escalation in WAC pricing, but the easiest might be to cap the Medicare reimbursement rate at some limit which applies to all products equally.
[Name withheld]
Read Previous Blogs on CTP (Skin Sub) Price Escalation:
- Pricing Trends in Cellular Tissue Products (CTPs) / Skin Substitutes / CAMPs – and Why Publishing the ASP is Not Helping – Caroline Fife M.D. (carolinefifemd.com)
- Taking a Closer Look at the OIG Report on “Skin substitute” (CTP) ASP Transparency – Caroline Fife M.D. (carolinefifemd.com)
- A Problem Well-Stated is a Problem Half Solved… (Hopefully) – Caroline Fife M.D. (carolinefifemd.com)
Dr. Fife is a world renowned wound care physician dedicated to improving patient outcomes through quality driven care. Please visit my blog at CarolineFifeMD.com and my Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/carolinefifemd/videos
A straightforward fix, sales representatives earning over $100K per month in commissions from overpriced CTPs shows why Medicare needs to CAP the reimbursement regardless of the graft, exactly what your reader stated.