by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 16, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Quality Payment Program
The Alliance of Wound Care Stakeholders has alerted its member organizations to a “policy article” just released by the Medicare Administrative Carrier (MAC) Noridian limiting coverage of Cellular and/or Tissue Based Products (CTPs) to the treatment of Venous Leg...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 15, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Lymphatic Imaging & Lymphedema
This is an 80 year old man with severe bilateral lower extremity lymphedema. I hospitalized him the day I took these photos. He had copious amounts of neon green drainage and increasing erythema of his legs, but what really precipitated hospital admission was his...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 13, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
This patient is in is 50’s (younger than I am). He has hypertension, liver cirrhosis, type 2 diabetes, and sleep apnea (he’s a chair sleeper). He’s still obese 3 years after a gastric sleeve operation. He’s chronically fluid overloaded with pitting edema to his groin....
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 12, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Lymphatic Imaging & Lymphedema
I’ve been thinking a lot about lymphedema due to venous disease vs. other types of lymphedema. I think the differences are worth pondering. We see the impact of venous disease so often that it is a bit like living in a war zone – after a while the abnormal becomes...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 8, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
I received an email from a physician who expressed how difficult it was to stay updated on the requirements for HBOT documentation. Dr. Helen Gelly has written about this extensively and I have posted blogs about this before. I reviewed the HBOT documentation...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 7, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Lymphatic Imaging & Lymphedema
I’ve been receiving the emails from Tactile Medical emphasizing the relationship between chronic venous insufficiency and lymphedema, many of which feature real-time lymphatic images taken with the near infrared imaging device developed by Dr. Eva Sevick at the...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 2, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
This patient is a 57-year-old man with diabetes, end stage renal disease on dialysis and congestive heart failure. He has these lesions over most of his arms and legs and they are horribly pruritic. He has scratched until several of them are open sores. What does he...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 1, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
Ever wished you could take back something that you said or did? That’s practically a daily thing for me. Unfortunately, life doesn’t work that way, except for maybe one area. You can take back your unused prescription drugs – which may help protect the lives of your...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Oct 30, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
Senate Democrats have released the details of the “Medicare-for-all” plan under the appealing banner of, “Leaving No One Behind.” This plan apparently has broad support. I can understand why. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) kept insurance premiums in check initially via...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Oct 29, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
I am still recovering from the shock. I opened my October 9th JAMA and there in the Clinical Update section was “Management of Chronic Wounds -2018.” Congratulations and kudos to Drs. Jones, Foster and Longaker! They highlighted the diverse array of...
