by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 25, 2024 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
You should read the entire LCD, because there is a lot to unpack. I will tackle various topics over the next several weeks, but here’s the list of covered and not-covered CTPs/skin subs for diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) and Venous Leg Ulcers (VLUs). When will the...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | May 27, 2024 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
In honor of Memorial Day, here is a re-post from 2020. –Caroline My Dad was a veteran of WWII and Korea and my husband was a veteran. On Memorial Day I find myself wanting to go somewhere to pay tribute our service men and women. My Mother, my son and I usually...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jul 20, 2021 | Health Information Technology and Wound Care
Beginning on July 28, HMP Communications and Today’s Wound Clinic will be offering a series of five FREE Wound Clinic Business Webinars in which where Kathy Schaum and Jolayne Devers will share their insights on “2021 Mid-Year Reimbursement Reports.” The free sessions...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Mar 30, 2021 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Nutrition & Wound Healing
There’s increasing interest in Vitamin D. I became focused on this after a series of patients who failed to heal operative wounds. I found their Vitamin D-OH levels were in the teens (in some cases, single digits) when 30 is the lowest value we want for wound healing....
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jul 7, 2020 | Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Pressure Cooker: Rethinking Pressure Ulcers
Do you remember how you felt the first time you saw this? Do you still have the photos of the first patient you treated with Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT)? The photos below are very poor quality because they are Polaroids from 1997! This was one of the first...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Feb 18, 2020 | Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Healthcare Payment Policy
There is lot of interest in surrogate measures of wound outcome to capture important aspects of treatment beyond closure. Because it provides insight into the patient’s experience, Quality of life (QOL) is an obvious surrogate for healing rate. For your own safety,...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Dec 18, 2019 | Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, US Wound Registry
Nearly every week I get a question about the different registry participation options for wound care and hyperbaric medicine. We need all the data we can get in the fields of wound care and hyperbaric medicine. The thought process should not be that one approach is...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 27, 2019 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
Re-printed from November 25, 2015 The Mayflower left the port of Southampton in August 1620 but was forced to put into Plymouth, England for repairs. The 102 passengers and 30 crew members finally left Plymouth for America on September 16, 1620. Blown off course by...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 11, 2019 | Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Healthcare Payment Policy
A few weeks ago we published a manuscript about the development of the Wound Healing Index for Venous Leg Ulcers (VLUs). The link is below. What is the VLU WHI? The VLU WHI makes it possible to predict at the initial visit whether a venous ulcer will heal with...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 7, 2019 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
With his permission, I’m posting this amazing photo of my friend and former patient, Kevin – whose mobility limitations do not keep him down. He’s also helping others experience the challenge and excitement of hunting, even if they hunt on wheels. You can support his...
