by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 22, 2024 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes
On 12/10/2024, CGS (Cigna Government Contractors) will host a multi-jurisdictional Town Hall meeting to discuss the recently released final LCD(s) for Skin Substitute Grafts/Cellular and Tissue-Based Products for the Treatment of Diabetic Foot Ulcers and Venous Leg...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 20, 2024 | Fight the Good Fight
A patient sent me a photo of this Explanation of Benefit (EOB) from their secondary insurance company, referring to a claim from a hospital based wound center (HOPD). It shows that the hospital charged $11,060.00 for a wound debridement in the HOPD. Medicare’s...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 18, 2024 | Fight the Good Fight
Attorney Knicole Emanuel recently blogged about Medicare audits. It’s a good news/bad news story. The good news is that a physician who was determined by an auditor to have been “over paid” by $5 million ended up owing NOTHING. The bad news is that the cost of taking...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 15, 2024 | Fight the Good Fight
I blog so much about the importance of checking and supplementing wound care patients with Vitamin D, that’s it’s probably getting old. However, I just can’t help myself. This is one of the few problems that is simple and cheap to fix. In addition to the fact that low...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 14, 2024 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes
Read them here (more to come): LCD Cellular Tissue Products View on CMS Website Caroline Fife, M.D.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...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 13, 2024 | Fight the Good Fight, Nutrition & Wound Healing
I have no affiliation with any pharmaceutical company, and I continue to be cautious about the Glucagon-like peptide receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) craze. However, I am paying attention to this family of drugs because for more than three decades I have watched with a...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 11, 2024 | Miscellaneous Musings
Today I am thinking of the veterans in my life with gratitude. I’m donating to my favorite Veteran’s organization today, in honor of these two men. –Caroline Caroline Fife, M.D.Dr. Fife is a world renowned wound care physician dedicated to...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 11, 2024 | Fight the Good Fight
As anyone knows who has had surgery recently, you can nearly forget about getting a prescription for even short-term use of narcotics. These restrictions developed in response to a national opioid crisis that continues to decimate many areas of the country....
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 6, 2024 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes
CMS has published the final rule for the CY2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS). As we knew from the proposed rule, there are no major changes in the payment for Cellular Tissue Products (CTPs) / skin substitutes in 2025 — although CMS stated they the...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 4, 2024 | Fight the Good Fight
There’s a new concept for calculating obesity called the Body Roundness Index (BRI), which may be a more accurate way to understand obesity and healthcare risk than the Body Mass Index (BMI). That’s because visceral obesity is an important risk factor associated with...
