by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 21, 2020 | Fight the Good Fight, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Wes Irvin is an advocate for hyperbaric oxygen therapy as a result of his own personal healthcare journey. He’s got a unique perspective on the challenges faced by the industry, thanks to his experience working “inside the beltway.” Wes has served in multiple...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 17, 2020 | Don't Miss This, Uncategorized, US Wound Registry
Wound Clinic Leaders: Please Take This Survey The US Wound Registry is focused on improving the quality of care and outcomes of patients with chronic wounds and ulcers. As a CMS-recognized Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR), we are trying to understand real-world...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 15, 2020 | Healthcare Payment Policy
I got my 2019 MIPS (Merit Based Incentive Payment System) Final Score Report. I reported wound care relevant measures in 2019 and got high quality scores. Check out my Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) healing rate. It was 33.14% – and yet I still scored 8.39/10 with...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 10, 2020 | Healthcare Payment Policy
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has issued the report below, estimating that the Medicare Trust Fund will become insolvent in 2024, two years sooner than the previous estimate, because of the pandemic. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) members...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 9, 2020 | Healthcare Payment Policy, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Novitas and First Coast have retired their Local Coverage Determinations (LCDs) for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT). Because the National Coverage Determination (NCD) for HBOT remains in place, theoretically coverage for HBOT should not change as a result. At least...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 8, 2020 | COVID-19, Dr. Marissa Carter
Dr. Marissa Carter has posted a new blog about the latest COVID-19 news, including a vaccine update. Vaccines It’s been an interesting week! First, there have been a number of reports that both the Russians and Chinese have started vaccination programs in their own...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 3, 2020 | COVID-19, Undaunted Spirit Award
I’ve talked about my inspirational patient, Morgan McCoy, who is my antidote to the COVID Blues. Morgan, her parents, her orthopedic surgeon (Dr. Kyle Dickson) and I recently participated in Virtual Wound Rounds with Frank Aviles. If you are involved in wound...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 1, 2020 | US Wound Registry
As I’ve discussed before, I actually stopped performing prospective trials in wound care because the trials were not “generalizable,” meaning, the patients enrolled in studies to evaluate wound healing modalities bear no resemblance to the patients we see. I talked...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 27, 2020 | Miscellaneous Musings
Last night, Laura, a category 4 hurricane, flattened Lake Charles, LA and many nearby areas along the Texas-Louisiana border. It missed us in Houston by a few miles. I fretted about my friends in the path all night and turned on the news this morning to find out just...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 25, 2020 | Fight the Good Fight, Lymphatic Imaging & Lymphedema
In 1998, when I initiated a lymphedema program within a busy wound center, I had no idea what I was doing. I had been running the Memorial Hermann Wound Center in the Texas Medical Center for eight years by then. Women with post-mastectomy lymphedema began to call...
