by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 28, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight
This morning, three Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) Novitas, CGS Administrators, and First Coast Service Options, published updates to their local coverage determinations (LCDs) on “Skin Substitute Grafts/Cellular and/or Tissue-Based Products,”...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 28, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight, Medicare Audits
Clinicians sometimes email me about Medicare audits that they are undergoing. Since nearly everyone is being audited on either hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT), the use of “skin subs” – properly known as Cellular and/or tissue-based products (CTPs) — or...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 14, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight
Twenty years ago, my husband, a busy Ob/Gyn, reached the point that he was not able to pay his malpractice premium (six figures) and his office staff – much less take home any income. One evening we discussed whether he was going to have to quit practicing Obstetrics...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 13, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight
Franz Kafka was a Czech-born writer whose fictional stories depict nightmarish settings in which characters are crushed by nonsensical, blind authority. “Kafkaesque” is a term often applied to bizarre administrative situations that can’t be resolved with logical...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 12, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight
The 988 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline allows people to get help via phone, text, or online chat for any mental health-related distress. It was launched in 2022, but most Americans don’t yet know it exists. Despite the low level of awareness about this resource,...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 6, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight
There is a huge disconnect between “real world” wounds (and the patients who have them) and those studied in clinical trials. This disconnect means that the treatments developed may not work for the patients who need them most, and it is used as an excuse for payers...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 5, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight
This blog post is directed at all physicians and allied health professionals involved in hyperbaric oxygen therapy. The goal of this blog post is to explain the changes that CMS is proposing in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) for the technical payment of...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 22, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight
I was taking care of a patient who was at the end of the line with regard to his diabetes. He was a retired ICU nurse who had not taken his disease seriously until his kidneys were failing, by which time of course, his vision was nearly gone and his vascular disease...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 14, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight
As I have already discussed, three Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) CGS, First Coast Service Option (FCSO) and Novitas issued their final Local Coverage Determinations (LCDs) for Cellular and/or tissue-based products (CTPs). These policies will go into...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 11, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight
As I have already discussed, 3 Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) CGS, First Coast Service Option (FCSO) and Novitas issued their final Local Coverage Determinations (LCDs) for Cellular and/or tissue-based products (CTPs). These policies will go into effect on...
