by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Feb 11, 2021 | COVID-19, COVID-19 & HBOT, COVID-19 Diaries, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Here’s another installment from the intrepid critical care/hyperbaric physician who started “COVID Diaries” nearly a year ago. I am not identifying her so that she can speak more openly about her experiences. Now she is telling the evolving story of treating COVID...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Feb 10, 2021 | COVID-19, COVID-19 & HBOT, COVID-19 Diaries, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Here’s another installment from the intrepid critical care/hyperbaric physician who started “COVID Diaries” nearly a year ago. I am not identifying her so that she can speak more openly about her experiences. Now she is telling the evolving story of treating COVID...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Feb 9, 2021 | COVID-19, COVID-19 & HBOT, COVID-19 Diaries, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Here’s another installment from the intrepid critical care/hyperbaric physician who started “COVID Diaries” nearly a year ago. I am not identifying her so that she can speak more openly about her experiences. One day, I hope I can tell you who she is so she can get...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Feb 4, 2021 | COVID-19, COVID-19 Diaries
The Aftermath of Wave One For months I have been meaning to post more COVID diaries, but in some ways, the aftermath of the battle was harder than the battle. When we finally got past the first COVID wave, everyone focused on getting business back to normal. There was...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Feb 3, 2021 | COVID-19, Dr. Marissa Carter
Dr. Marissa Carter has posted a new blog on the SARS-COVID-2 outbreak in Brazil and its implications for the rest of us. While it’s possible that “Phase 1” of COVID will end in a couple of months, it’s possible that, thanks to these new variants, Phase 2 of the...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Feb 2, 2021 | Healthcare Payment Policy
Even if your Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) is NOT Noridian or WPS, believe me you want to pay attention to their wound care or dressing policies because the MACs tend to collaborate (even unofficially) on these policies. When there’s a mistake in the wound...
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, The Patient's Voice
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, The Patient's Voice
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, The Patient's Voice
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...