by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 22, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight
I was taking care of a patient who was at the end of the line with regard to his diabetes. He was a retired ICU nurse who had not taken his disease seriously until his kidneys were failing, by which time of course, his vision was nearly gone and his vascular disease...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 14, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight
As I have already discussed, three Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) CGS, First Coast Service Option (FCSO) and Novitas issued their final Local Coverage Determinations (LCDs) for Cellular and/or tissue-based products (CTPs). These policies will go into...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 11, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight
As I have already discussed, 3 Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) CGS, First Coast Service Option (FCSO) and Novitas issued their final Local Coverage Determinations (LCDs) for Cellular and/or tissue-based products (CTPs). These policies will go into effect on...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 10, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight
I was looking for in-home care for a home-bound patient in Minnesota and was given the name of Mendota Health. When I contacted them, I started the conversation with, “Hey I heard about your clinic, but what I really need is in-home care.” That’s when Nurse...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 9, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight
Three Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) CGS, First Coast Service Option (FCSO) and Novitas issued their final Local Coverage Determinations (LCDs) for Cellular and/or tissue-based products (CTPs). These policies will go into effect on September 17. Links to...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 8, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight
Forgive me for “over explaining” this issue, but it needs some over-explanation. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is usually provided in either a hospital-based environment or an office-based environment – otherwise known as “place of service” (POS). Different sites...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 7, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight
Well, it sounded good – the idea that Medicare had removed the requirement that a patient fail 4 weeks of conservative therapy to get a pneumatic compression device (PCD) – referred to in the coverage policy as Intermittent Pneumatic Compression (IPC). But...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 7, 2023 | COVID-19, COVID-19 Diaries, Fight the Good Fight
It’s no secret that clinician burnout is a serious issue, and in a world drastically changed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the rates of burnout have only increased. Dr. Sandra Wainwright, Author of “The COVID Diaries” will make a keynote address that...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jul 31, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight
Thanks to advocacy from the Alliance of Wound Care Stakeholders, and as a result of the successful case United States District Court, District of Columbia decision in Greenwald v. Becerra (Decided June 7, 2022), the DMEMACs released an updated Local Coverage...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jul 18, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight
These are screen captures of an ad campaign, “How to become a wound care millionaire with 25 patients or less.” It’s true that CMS did not implement package pricing of “skin subs” in the doctors’ office setting for 2024, but there’s little doubt it will have to...
