by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 8, 2024 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes, Fight the Good Fight, Quiz / Survey
Thanks to everyone who voted! As over 40% of you correctly guessed, the correct answer is D. An amniotic rep bragged that he had sold >$1.5 Million to a one practice in one week. Caroline Fife, M.D.Dr. Fife is a world renowned wound care physician dedicated to...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 6, 2024 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes, Fight the Good Fight
A few weeks ago, I got a message from a Cellular Tissue Products / skin substitute sales rep telling me about the great results seen using his product in Wagner grade 3 DFUs, specifically over bone and tendon. I wondered how he could make those claims given that, as...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 1, 2024 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes, Fight the Good Fight, Quiz / Survey
Thanks to everyone who voted! As almost 60% of you correctly guessed, the correct answer is C) Paying for a criminal defense attorney if the practitioner is prosecuted for Medicare fraud Stay tuned tomorrow for another “just for fun” poll related to...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jul 30, 2024 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes
The Minnesota Department of Justice (DOJ) has reached a $1.63 million settlement with Tareen Dermatology, P.A. and Dr. Mohiba Tareen in a qui tam case initiated by two whistleblowers (United States of America, et al., ex rel. Carrie Cremin and Susanne Polzin v. Tareen...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jul 24, 2024 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes
Dr. Fife, I wanted to illustrate how an office-based doctor using Cellular Tissue Products / Skin Substitutes is often unable to cover the cost of this treatment – if they follow the Medicare rules. At the very least, in many cases, I wanted to illustrate why an...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jul 19, 2024 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitute Arrests, CTP / Skin Substitutes
District of Arizona | Seven Charged in Arizona as Part of the Department of Justice’s 2024 National Health Care Fraud Enforcement Action | United States Department of Justice The fallout continues from the indictments of Alexandra Gehrke and Jeffrey King on charges of...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jul 17, 2024 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes, Dr. Marissa Carter
Dr. Marissa Carter and I have published, “Counting the Cost of Cellular and/or Tissue-Based Products in Diabetic Foot Ulcers: Is There a Justifiable Price Limit per Square Centimeter?” now available in Advances in Wound Care. Recently I asked readers to predict what...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jul 12, 2024 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes
Thank you for participating in the poll to guess how ridiculously high amniotic prices will go. It looks like $5000 per cm may be the winner of this perverse method of helping to bankrupt Medicare and line the pockets of unscrupulous practitioners! I will keep you...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jul 11, 2024 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the proposed rule for the 2025 Medicare physician fee schedule (PFS). The big question in our field was whether CMS would start “package pricing” CTPs/skin subs in the physician office. They didn’t –...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jul 10, 2024 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes
The Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) proposed rule has come out! It will take time to read and digest so details will follow. At first glance, there are no changes to Cellular Tissue Product /skin substitute payment, which remain under package pricing in...
