by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jun 5, 2025 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes, Fight the Good Fight, Healthcare Payment Policy
There’s a new article in Health Affairs about “site neutral” payments that could change everything for hospital-based outpatient departments – and by that, I mean, possibly end them. However, I have been wrong about this threat for more than a decade – which means...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jun 4, 2025 | Fight the Good Fight
Dr. Jay Shah is a well-known wound care practitioner, and he is now the President of the Texas Medical Association (TMA). Being active in organized medicine is a sacrifice. I am grateful and excited that a wound care practitioner holds a position of such influence!...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | May 28, 2025 | Fight the Good Fight, SAWC
At the recent SAWC, the Alliance of Wound Care Stakeholders hosted Dr. Anitra Graves, the Medical Director for First Coast. Dr. Graves gave a fantastic presentation on the use of real-world data in Medicare coverage policy. I thought I’d provide some of the notes that...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | May 21, 2025 | Fight the Good Fight, If I Were Queen
In the 30+ years I’ve been taking care of patients with chronic wounds, I’ve given a lot of thought to the things that are covered by Medicare and other payers (some of which, frankly, don’t work very well) vs. the things that are NOT covered, but work...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | May 16, 2025 | Fight the Good Fight
This week, the Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Matthew R. Galeotti, delivered remarks at an Anti-Money Laundering and Financial Crimes Conference, announcing that the DOJ’s Criminal Division was “turning a new page on white-collar and corporate...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Apr 21, 2025 | Fight the Good Fight
The March issue of JAMA has an article about the “mode of death” in patients with heart failure. Yes, Cardiologists lead with “here’s how our patients die.” And yet, no one reads that and thinks, “Wow, cardiologists are terrible at their job.” To put this in...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Apr 7, 2025 | Fight the Good Fight
“According to the United States’ complaint, Vohra and Dr. Vohra knowingly engaged in a nationwide scheme to falsely bill Medicare for surgical debridement procedures to maximize revenue.” The complaint alleges that the defendants pursued their fraudulent scheme...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Mar 26, 2025 | Fight the Good Fight
A recently published study using electronic medical records has suggested that a prescription for the GLP-1 receptor agonist (RA) Semaglutide is associated with a decreased risk of wound healing complications, chronic non-healing “wounds,” pain, treatment for wound...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Mar 21, 2025 | Fight the Good Fight, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
In January, a 5-year-old boy was killed in a monoplace hyperbaric chamber fire in Michigan. Now three people who operated the facility have been charged with second-degree murder. In response to the tragedy, Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS) president Dr....
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Mar 19, 2025 | Fight the Good Fight
Check out Knicole Emanuel’s recent blog post about CMS monetary recoupment before full adjudication. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has the authority to recoup alleged overpayments from healthcare providers before the full adjudication of an...
