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, Obesity & Wound Care, 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...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Dec 11, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight
The day after Thanksgiving, I underwent an emergency laparotomy for an internal herniation of the small bowel. I haven’t made a secret of the fact that I had weight loss surgery about 18 years ago. A “Peterson’s internal hernia” is a rare but known complication of...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Dec 8, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight, Medicare Audits
This is part of my series of articles about Useful Information on Medicare Audits. Here are the “reasons for denial” codes for hyperbaric oxygen therapy posted on the Palmetto website. Although they are posted on the Palmetto website, these come from CMS and thus are...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Dec 5, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, Medicare Audits
This is part of my series of articles about Useful Information on Medicare Audits. Noridian is the MAC for Medicare A/B of: Region E: California, Hawaii, Nevada, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands Region F: Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota,...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Dec 1, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
The Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS) working in collaboration with the Alliance of Wound Care Stakeholders and many other organizations is asking for your help to stop the proposed drastic cut in facility fees for hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Please follow...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 30, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight
Check out this Medical Student Survey: Risks and Prevention of Barotrauma in Hyperbaric Facilities by the Undersea & Hyperbaric Medical Society. Please submit your response latest by February 1, 2024. Thank you so much for your contributions and volunteerism!...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 22, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight, Miscellaneous Musings, Obesity & Wound Care
It’s the holidays so most people can expect to watch the scales move up. A WebMD article about holiday weight gain suggests that the problem is not that people gain a lot of weight during the holiday season but that they gain a little every holiday season —...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 21, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight, Medicare Audits
This is part of my series of articles about Useful Information on Medicare Audits. Palmetto is the MAC for: Region J: Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee (Region J) Region M: North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia (excludes Part B for the counties of...
