by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Apr 26, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight
I have seen a lot of drug induced ulcerations and I bet you have, too. Some of them can be horrific. A colleague just emailed me to ask if I’d seen any Xylazine-related ulcerations. Xylazine (a veterinary anesthetic) can be used to cut fentanyl, heroin and sometimes...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Apr 24, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight
Most people will consider this good news. When compared to non-coffee drinkers, consumption of up to four cups of coffee have a 29% reduced risk of all-cause mortality over a seven-year period and a 15% reduction in all cardiovascular disease. The highest consumers of...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Apr 21, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight
I got a shock the first time I took off a patient’s dressing and found something like this over a wound. The patient had cut open a large leaf from her Aloe Vera plant and was using it as a wound treatment. I will admit that her innovation was driven in part by the...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Apr 19, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight
One benefit of getting older is that you feel less like you have to hide things about yourself. While I’ve never discussed it openly, I’ve also never made a secret of the fact that I had bariatric surgery nearly 20 years ago. I had been putting on weight slowly since...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Apr 14, 2023 | Dr. Helen Gelly, Fight the Good Fight, Healthcare Payment Policy, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Recently, a clinician inquired about Medicare documentation requirements for hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). In particular, they wanted to know once a patient has started HBOT, how often the follow up visits with the physician should be performed, and what should be...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Apr 14, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight
The CDC continues to warn about the increasing incidence of both active and latent tuberculosis (TB) in the U.S. population and has asked all physicians to be on the alert for cases. Since all chronic non-healing wounds are a symptom of a disease, wound practitioners...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Apr 11, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight
I’ve struggled with my weight all my life. I don’t need an alarm clock because my stomach will wake me up for breakfast. It infuriates me when skinny friends tell me that they “forgot to eat.” I have always suspected that anyone who forgets to eat has some kind of...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Mar 24, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight, Healthcare Payment Policy
It’s a poorly kept secret that audits of wound care services rendered under the Medicare fee-for-service payment system are so pervasive that I don’t know anyone who is NOT in an audit of some kind. The entire alphabet soup of auditing bodies are at work: TPE,...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Mar 23, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight
I am old enough to remember the days of thick paper charts stacked in the hospital medical records department. The medical records department was usually in the basement or some dark corner of the hospital, but would always have plates of cookies and pots of coffee at...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Mar 17, 2023 | The Patient's Voice, Uncategorized
I have been raising awareness about the direct link between documentation and surgical dressing supplies – and why DME companies have become so “demanding” in terms of the documentation they need to see. The DME companies have been audited nearly to death by Medicare...
