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. | May 26, 2020 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
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 go to The Brazos Valley Veterans Memorial in College Station. It is one...
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, 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...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | May 15, 2019 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
The following patients with leg ulcers were referred to me (sometimes by the vein center) after undergoing venous ablation for documented venous reflux. The first is a 92 year old, alert little lady referred from a local vein center. A circumferential leg ulcer had...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Apr 17, 2019 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
If you have been in wound care for any length of time, you have seen a patient like this. The local cancer is eradicated, and then we handle the aftermath. I tried to get a video of the day I could see her lung moving but it was a TINY little hole under the rib after...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Apr 15, 2019 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
This is a 70 year old man who underwent surgery for a ganglion cyst two months before he was referred to the wound center. Ten days later when the sutures were removed, the wound just fell open. He underwent debridement and closure, and the same thing happened. These...
