by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jan 5, 2024 | Fight the Good Fight, US Wound Registry
Check out the list of quality measures approved by CMS for 2024 MIPS reporting through the US Wound Registry Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) and stay tuned for more information! (Whoever says we don’t have an accepted standard of care in wound management is...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Dec 27, 2023 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes, Fight the Good Fight
JAMA just released an editorial about the impact of greed on the US healthcare system. I want to be very clear about the fact that I am devoted to the free market. If history and human psychology teach us anything, it is the value of a free market economy. With the...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Dec 22, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Here’s some welcome news hot off the press from John Peters, the Executive Director of the UHMS! –Caroline Dear Caroline, Thank you for inviting me again to contribute an update on the 2024 HOPD G0277 final error. Yesterday afternoon, we received notification...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Dec 21, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight
Since it seems that EVERYONE is being audited (particularly about hyperbaric oxygen and the use of CTPs/skin subs), this Webinar might be useful. I don’t pretend to understand the details but I know that what CMS thinks is a statistical sample of data is far from...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Dec 20, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Here’s a link to the public comments that have been posted on the final rule. (I’ve posted this link searching specifically for those on hyperbaric oxygen therapy.) This link reflects a search for comments related to the Final Rule. Well done everyone who took the...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Dec 20, 2023 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes, Fight the Good Fight
Dear Dr. Fife, I thought people should understand what happens to doctors who play by the rules when it comes to the use of Cellular Tissue-Based Products / Skin Substitutes in their private office. Here’s a spreadsheet explaining what happens to my practice (office...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Dec 19, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight
The response to the proposed 41.5% cut in the hospital facility fees for HBOT in 2024 has been impressive. Many large hospital systems have told CMS that they will close their hyperbaric operations if the proposed cut is implemented. Rapid response by the Undersea and...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Dec 18, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight
Mobile wound care is one of the fastest growing areas of our field. I had the opportunity to spend the day with Dr. Haresh Kane and Dr. Michael Jensen as they made rounds on patients with wounds in a skilled nursing facility. I wanted to understand this kind of...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Dec 15, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight, Healthcare Payment Policy, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Guest Post by John Peters, Undersea & Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS) Executive Director Caroline, Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to provide an update on the 2024 Final Rule and rate for APC 5061 / Code G0277 (hyperbaric oxygen per 30-minute segment)....
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Dec 13, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight, US Wound Registry
We just published an article about the impact of underlying conditions on Quality-of-Life (QOL) measurement among patients with chronic wounds which sheds new light on the use of QOL assessment as well as the underlying medical complexity of these patients. On the...
