by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Dec 6, 2024 | Fight the Good Fight
I saw this patient almost 5 years ago, but her case is one of those that I can’t get out of my mind. I now understand what I was looking at, but I didn’t understand it at the time. The woman was in her late 60’s and an orthopedic surgeon sent her to me because she...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Dec 4, 2024 | Fight the Good Fight
This posting has been removed from a job website since I took these images. I have redacted the name and location of the company that posted the job. The posting was for a nurse practitioner with “wound experience highly preferred (but not required)” — although...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Dec 2, 2024 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes
Recently someone passed on what a clinician had told them about the Cellular Tissue Products / Skin Substitutes that they were using. The clinician said they were not worried about being paid for a particular product because it had an established ASP (Average Sales...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 26, 2024 | Miscellaneous Musings
There’s a lot for people to worry about these days. People are burned out and stressed out. And frankly, the holidays often make people feel worse instead of better. Instead of feeling thankful at Thanksgiving, many people just end up exhausted and annoyed, if not...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 25, 2024 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
You should read the entire LCD, because there is a lot to unpack. I will tackle various topics over the next several weeks, but here’s the list of covered and not-covered CTPs/skin subs for diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) and Venous Leg Ulcers (VLUs). When will the...
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...
