by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Oct 13, 2020 | Do the Right Thing: Thoughts on Quality
I am a huge proponent of better care coordination. This means doctors have to talk to each other. When I need to talk to a doctor who’s cell phone I don’t already have, I cringe. It means I will have to face their office telephone system and I am so DONE with this. I...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | May 29, 2020 | Do the Right Thing: Thoughts on Quality, Fight the Good Fight, PAD Hall of Shame, US Wound Registry
I recently reviewed the case of an elderly woman with a non-healing wound who had ischemic rest pain and extreme malnutrition, neither of which were addressed by the wound center at which she was treated previously. Not surprisingly she failed to improve with the...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | May 27, 2020 | COVID-19, Do the Right Thing: Thoughts on Quality, Fight the Good Fight, Nutrition & Wound Healing, Skin Perfusion Pressure (SPP)
If you are a wound management practitioner, then like me, you’ve continued to care for patients during the pandemic. It wasn’t easy before COVID-19 and it’s even harder now. My clinic is only able to see half the volume (due to the time required for COVID-19...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Mar 19, 2020 | Do the Right Thing: Thoughts on Quality, Healthcare Payment Policy
Special guest blog post by Marissa Carter, PhD Predicting Healing on the First Visit (for venous ulcers and other wound types) There is a lot of interest in “predictive models” for chronic wounds and ulcers. The ideal predictive model can predict at the FIRST VISIT...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Dec 3, 2019 | Do the Right Thing: Thoughts on Quality, Fight the Good Fight, Healthcare Payment Policy
The Alliance of Wound Care Stakeholders parterned with the US Wound Registry (USWR) to develop a suite of wound care relevant quality measures. This year, 3 of those CMS approved quality measures were selected for depiction on Physician Compare. An article about this...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 24, 2019 | Do the Right Thing: Thoughts on Quality
Recently as part of a post marketing surveillance project for a specific dressing product, I had to record the dressings used on a wound over time. I’ve provided just a little example of what I found. This is just the diary of one wound, and doesn’t include all of the...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jan 9, 2019 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Do the Right Thing: Thoughts on Quality, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
I heard a few firecrackers on New Year’s eve, but the big fireworks in our industry go off on January 7th, 2019. That’s because the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has established a new physician specialty code for Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Oct 4, 2018 | Do the Right Thing: Thoughts on Quality, Don't Miss This
A recent National Academy of Medicine discussion paper reviews the concept of “team-based healthcare” and the way in which it is associated with both improved patient outcomes and clinician well-being. According to the authors, teamwork must,...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | May 7, 2015 | Do the Right Thing: Thoughts on Quality
Last week I saw a young man with terrible pressure ulcers who is just wasting away. He simply can’t eat enough to keep up with his nutritional needs. I gave him a case of nutritional supplements that I had. I am excited about the nutritional quality measure that...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Apr 30, 2015 | Do the Right Thing: Thoughts on Quality
Sometimes it feels so hopeless trying to manage paralyzed patients. None of them seem to have physical medicine doctors. Their bladder spasms and muscle spasms are terrible and I am arguing with their insurance companies to get them to physical medicine doctors who...
