by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Apr 11, 2025 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes
LCDs appear to be delayed until 1/1/26 based on MAC websites changing the revision effective date. More news as I get it. There’s now an amniotic that is over $5,000 per cm2. I wonder how high the prices will go by next January? CMS Statement on Local Coverage...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Apr 9, 2025 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes
An opinion piece has been published in RealClear Health about the upcoming launch of the “skin substitute” LCD(s), authored by the president of Consumer Action for a Strong Economy (CASE). (RealClear Health is part of RealClear Politics). The article...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Apr 8, 2025 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes
Here’s another guest blog from Michael Crouch who is a professional coder and medical auditor, detailing the documentation demands of the LCDs. It’s true that we don’t know if the LCDs will be implemented on April 13th. However, with or without the implementation...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Apr 7, 2025 | Fight the Good Fight
“According to the United States’ complaint, Vohra and Dr. Vohra knowingly engaged in a nationwide scheme to falsely bill Medicare for surgical debridement procedures to maximize revenue.” The complaint alleges that the defendants pursued their fraudulent scheme...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Apr 4, 2025 | Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
In the wake of the tragic hyperbaric chamber fire that killed a 5-year-old child, there is much discussion about hyperbaric chamber safety. Several people who messaged me were shocked and worried that three people who operated the facility have been charged with...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Mar 31, 2025 | Pyoderma Gangrenosum
If you are a wound care practitioner, I guarantee that you have seen pyoderma gangrenosum (PG). And no matter how attuned you are to the disease, I guarantee you have missed some — because I have. The number of “head slap” moments I have had about PG is...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Mar 28, 2025 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes
Welcome to the Circus: The State of Healthcare in America | medicaidlaw-nc Attorney Knicole Emanuel has another blog post (yes, I am a big fan of her blog) about Medicare audits. She describes “compliance” as a “Kafkaesque masterpiece of government regulation.” The...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Mar 26, 2025 | Fight the Good Fight
A recently published study using electronic medical records has suggested that a prescription for the GLP-1 receptor agonist (RA) Semaglutide is associated with a decreased risk of wound healing complications, chronic non-healing “wounds,” pain, treatment for wound...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Mar 24, 2025 | Medicare Audits
Here’s a guest blog from Michael Crouch, following up on Martha Kelso’s post about audit requirements. I hope the information from these industry experts will help practitioners prepare themselves better for the audits that are bound to happen. If you have been...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Mar 21, 2025 | Fight the Good Fight, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
In January, a 5-year-old boy was killed in a monoplace hyperbaric chamber fire in Michigan. Now three people who operated the facility have been charged with second-degree murder. In response to the tragedy, Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS) president Dr....