by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jan 26, 2021 | COVID-19, Dr. Marissa Carter
I am tired of COVID. I want to talk about something else, but every time I try, there’s some new bad news to discuss. Dr. Carter’s blogs on this site were so popular with all of you (even award-winning reporters called me about them), she started her own blog (and...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jan 22, 2021 | Healthcare Payment Policy
It’s happening more and more often. Patients have such high co-pays and deductibles that the basic things needed for wound management are becoming unaffordable. I am seeing this with private pay insurance and with Medicare Advantage plans (see more about this in...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jan 12, 2021 | Healthcare Payment Policy, Tales of the Medicare Disadvantaged
Here’s another story from Patricia Han about her Medicare “Disadvantage” plan: –Caroline I started looking for a Medicare Advantage (MA) plan in 2013. I studied every plan in detail. As I have mentioned, I am a nurse and have worked in the insurance industry and...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jan 11, 2021 | Healthcare Payment Policy, Tales of the Medicare Disadvantaged
If your practice is like mine, an increasing percentage of your patients have Medicare Advantage (MA), rather than traditional Medicare fee for service (FFS). If you are like me, you have been frustrated with the inability to get their Medicare “Advantage” plan to pay...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jan 8, 2021 | Healthcare Payment Policy
The G2211 code (the inherently complex add-on code for evaluation and management — EM) has been deferred to 2024. Instead CMS increased the RVU value to $34.8931, which is 3.75% global pay increase for physicians. CMS has produced NO other regulatory guidance,...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jan 7, 2021 | COVID-19
In the wake of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s, COVID-19 cases are soaring most places. Texas is not unique (see graph above). In October and early November things were looking a little better and now they are bad again. I work in a hospital-based outpatient...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jan 6, 2021 | Healthcare Payment Policy
Effective January 1, 2021, Texas Health and Safety Code, §§481.0755 requires that prescriptions for controlled substances to be issued electronically unless a waiver has been granted by the appropriate agency. I have been using electronic prescribing for several...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jan 5, 2021 | COVID-19, Dr. Marissa Carter
Here is a new and disheartening post from Dr. Marissa Carter about the new COVID-19 variant (see her previous posts about COVID-19). –Caroline The new SARS-Cov2 b117 variant is worse than we thought. Not only is it more infectious, but infections are associated...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jan 5, 2021 | Healthcare Payment Policy
Dr. Helen Gelly sent me the statement below from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama (BCBSAL) as it pertains to considerations regarding Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy: Menstruation: There is a great risk for decompression illness in the early phase of the menstrual cycle....
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jan 4, 2021 | COVID-19
My clinic is starting this morning. That means I have to get my temperature taken, don my protective equipment and attempt to deliver care to patients whose expressions I can’t see and who can’t understand what I am saying through a mask. I also need extra time to...