by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jul 22, 2026 | Fight the Good Fight
The Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule is out. Remember that like the OPPS proposed rule, there’s a comment period and possible changes before this is finalized. Here are the links you need to read things yourself. CMS is inviting comments on all these proposals and...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jun 10, 2026 | Fight the Good Fight
Percent Area Reduction (PAR) is a concept that wound care practitioners have been talking about for decades as a predictor of wound healing/surrogate endpoint. Well, set aside what you think you know about PAR. Check out this excellent blog by Zweli Tunyiswa which...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jun 1, 2026 | Fight the Good Fight, Miscellaneous Musings
I must have been absent from medical school the day we learned about dystonia because there is a big blank space in my memory where any knowledge of that disorder should be. I didn’t know anything about it until two decades after medical school when my Mary, my dear...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | May 29, 2026 | Fight the Good Fight
Starting July 1, 2026, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) will “enhance” its claims editing and review process for office, inpatient, and outpatient evaluation and management (E/M) services for patients in commercial BCBSTX plans. For dates of service on or...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | May 12, 2026 | Fight the Good Fight
Dr. Fife, Thank you for the wonderful blog post by Drs. Melin and team: “Wrestling Armadillos”. I could not agree more on all points! I want to emphasize this statement: “…’the underlying reason for chronic wounds may be systemic’, a...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | May 1, 2026 | Fight the Good Fight
The disconnect between the subjects enrolled in prospective clinical trials and patients in the real world has been an issue of concern for years. Dr. Marissa Carter and I first published on this in 2009 Advances in Skin & Wound Care. To over-simplify the problem...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Apr 24, 2026 | Fight the Good Fight
One of the things that makes wound care fascinating is that just when you think you have seen it all – you haven’t. I have only seen one case of leprosy in my 35+ career. Even though it is rare, we do see cases of leprosy in the southern US. And, growing up in Texas,...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Apr 17, 2026 | Fight the Good Fight, Healthcare Payment Policy
If you prescribe medications electronically through your electronic health record (EHR), you have almost certainly encountered a “formulary alert” from a patient’s pharmacy benefit plan warning you that you must select a “lower tier” drug before the drug you are...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Apr 15, 2026 | Fight the Good Fight, Healthcare Payment Policy, Tales of the Medicare Disadvantaged
Despite the hope that Medicare Advantage (MA) plans would offer valuable supplemental benefits (including dental, vision and hearing benefits), recent studies do not show that MA beneficiaries are getting more supplemental services than those enrolled in traditional...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Apr 1, 2026 | Fight the Good Fight, Healthcare Payment Policy
The 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) included a one-year, 2.5% positive update for 2026 Medicare payment. It was better than nothing, but still does not come close to adjusting for inflation. (Physician payments are among the few sectors of medicine that do...
