by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jun 25, 2015 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Miscellaneous Musings, Pressure Cooker: Rethinking Pressure Ulcers, US Wound Registry
Welcome to “Throwback Thursdays” in June. I’ve noticed that patients are having increasing problems affording wound care supplies as a result of the high deductibles under the Affordable Care Act. We are going back to baby diapers for some patients. Caroline...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jun 18, 2015 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Miscellaneous Musings, Pressure Cooker: Rethinking Pressure Ulcers, US Wound Registry
Welcome to “Throwback Thursdays” in June. I’ve noticed that patients are having increasing problems affording wound care supplies as a result of the high deductibles under the Affordable Care Act. I confess I am having to go back to tricks I used in the 1990’s like...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jun 11, 2015 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Miscellaneous Musings, Pressure Cooker: Rethinking Pressure Ulcers, US Wound Registry
Welcome to “Throwback Thursdays” in June. I’ve noticed that patients are having increasing problems affording wound care supplies as a result of the high deductibles under the Affordable Care Act. I’m having to provide patients with the “recipes” for making acetic...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jun 8, 2015 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Pressure Cooker: Rethinking Pressure Ulcers, Quality Payment Program, US Wound Registry
Last week I talked about the way that quality measures are now being used as part of physician compensation packages. Reimbursement based, in part, on patient satisfaction is around the corner. How are wound care clinicians going to handle that? We had better start...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jun 4, 2015 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Miscellaneous Musings, Pressure Cooker: Rethinking Pressure Ulcers, US Wound Registry
Welcome to “Throwback Thursdays” in June. How many different products do you use in your wound center? How many do you really need? Do you think you could care for patients with, say, only 5 categories of dressings? We used to do that in the 1990’s. Which products...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jun 1, 2015 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Miscellaneous Musings, Pressure Cooker: Rethinking Pressure Ulcers, US Wound Registry
Last month I focused on healthcare reform initiatives focused on how quality measures will be front and center in the move from volume based care to value based care by CMS. Performance on quality measures is also going to be used to determine physician compensation...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | May 28, 2015 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Miscellaneous Musings, Pressure Cooker: Rethinking Pressure Ulcers, US Wound Registry
I am wondering how many of you have seen a change in your practice with the advent of the Affordable Care Act? Am I the only one who has noticed that more and more patients are coming in saying, “Doc, I can’t afford for you to [fill in the blank with any procedure].”...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | May 27, 2015 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Miscellaneous Musings, Pressure Cooker: Rethinking Pressure Ulcers, US Wound Registry
One last case to get you thinking about the difference between TCOM and perfusion pressure is that of a 35-year-old female pharmacist who underwent incision and drainage of a left index finger abscess 3 months before I saw her. The day after the I&D a dark...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | May 25, 2015 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Pressure Cooker: Rethinking Pressure Ulcers, Quality Payment Program, US Wound Registry
Last month, on April 15, CMS issued a proposed rule [CMS-1622-P] outlining 2016 Medicare payment rates for skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). The policies set out in the rule would continue the shift in Medicare payments from “volume to value” that is being...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | May 21, 2015 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Miscellaneous Musings, Pressure Cooker: Rethinking Pressure Ulcers, US Wound Registry
Did anyone ever think they would look back fondly at traditional Medicare? It’s clear to me that the Medicare “replacement plans,” which are increasing rapidly in adoption, are not following Medicare coverage policy but the policy of the private payer. We will look...
