by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 23, 2024 | Fight the Good Fight, Healthcare Payment Policy
Patricia Han is a retired nurse with very serious health challenges who struggles with chronic wounds. She’s written articles about Medicare Advantage vs. regular Medicare for patients with wounds, as well as what she wishes every wound care practitioner knew (see...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 17, 2024 | Fight the Good Fight, Miscellaneous Musings
Today is National Physician Suicide Awareness Day. Suicide among physicians is a shockingly big problem. Suicide is usually the result of a long sequence of negative and self-defeating thoughts. It’s what happens after you lose “the battle in your mind.” I admit...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 16, 2024 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes, Fight the Good Fight
Joe Rolly posted a fantastic article explaining the pathways by which various CTPs/skin subs come to market, and what that means in terms of the claims that sales representatives can make. Because amniotic products are the fastest growing sector of the market, I am...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 13, 2024 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes, Fight the Good Fight
I am genuinely trying to understand what is “allowed” and what isn’t when it comes to CTPs/skin subs in the office-based and “mobile”. Everyone has heard about what happened to the owners of a CTP/skin sub company in Arizona. I am trying to understand the scenario...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 10, 2024 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes, Fight the Good Fight
I am genuinely trying to understand what is “allowed” and what isn’t when it comes to Cellular Tissue Products (CTPs) / skin substitutes in the office-based setting – and that includes the “mobile” practice (which may include skilled nursing and care in the patient’s...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 3, 2024 | Fight the Good Fight, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Dear Dr. Fife, For years you have been asking why it is so hard to do the right thing in wound care. I don’t know the answer, but this case is a great illustration of the problem. Here’s the photo of a patient I recently saw. He has had this diabetic foot ulcer for...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 29, 2024 | Fight the Good Fight, Miscellaneous Musings
Wang and colleagues recently published an article in JAMA Dermatology about primary cutaneous cryptococcus. The article is not available open access, so we can’t look at the photos of the case. However, in 2012, Dr. Adelaide Hebert and I published a case report of...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 26, 2024 | Fight the Good Fight, Healthcare Payment Policy
Noridian, besides being the Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) for Medicare benefits within a specific area of the country, also handles Durable Medical Equipment (DME) benefits for Jurisdiction D. As a DME MAC, Noridian recently issued an “update” on the...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 19, 2024 | Fight the Good Fight
An article published in JAMA discusses the results of a survey to understand the “acceptability” of hospital-at-home care and the “potential capacity for caregiver burden.” Hospital at home provides hospital-level care for patients “with low to moderate acuity in the...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 16, 2024 | Fight the Good Fight, Pyoderma Gangrenosum
I have a special interest in Pyoderma Gangrenosum (PG) because once I learned the clinical characteristics, I realized that PG is incredibly common in wound center patients –although sadly, it is uncommonly diagnosed. These patients suffer terribly because they get...
