by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Oct 26, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
I wanted to take a photo of this man’s legs on his scooter because he’s got profound heart failure and I’m worried about the edema of his thighs. I have been wondering if the way he sits on his scooter contributes to his edema. (It seems like I have...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Oct 25, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
A lifetime ago, when I was a young faculty member at the University of Texas Healthcare system in Houston, I received a letter (yes, an actual PAPER letter) from my regional Medicare Administrative Carrier (MAC) – which back then we called a “fiscal...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Oct 23, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Quality Payment Program
In a recent interview, American Medical Association (AMA) President Barbara McAneny discussed the fact that insurance prior authorization can create major disruptions to patient care and significant administrative burdens to the physician’s office. The AMA estimates...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Oct 18, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
In a previous blog post on this site, Dr. Helen Gelly described the OIG evaluation in the WPS J5 region (Iowa, Kansa, Missouri, Nebraska, and all legacy hospitals) in which the OIG found an error rate of 85% among hyperbaric oxygen therapy claims. The OIG recommended...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Oct 12, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
Last week CMS complied with the requirements of the 21st Century Cures Act by issuing its revised instruction manual to the Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs). You will find it described on the CMS website as: CMS Accelerates Innovation and Promotes Patient...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Oct 12, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
My husband has serious health issues which forced him to retire from medical practice more than a decade ago. When he became eligible for Medicare, someone suggested that he select a Medicare Advantage plan (MA). I said, “Absolutely not.” Yes, we bought an expensive...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Oct 9, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
I’ve been getting requests for the chapter on Ethical Issues in Hyperbaric medicine, published in the 4th Edition of Jain’s Textbook of Hyperbaric Medicine. You can obtain an electronic copy this way: The homepage for Textbook of Hyperbaric Medicine, 4th...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Oct 8, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
Is it not even possible to have honesty in MEDICAL RESEARCH? Here is a link to a petition posted by Canadian physician Dr. Kenneth DeDez, about the false data published in Diabetes Care from a study of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) in Wagner Grade 2 diabetic foot...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Oct 8, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
This is an elderly woman who developed a confirmed Influenza A infection back in February. Her husband says that these painful leg lesions began almost immediately after starting Oseltamivir (Tamiflu®). She was referred to me 5 months later, and the husband was...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Oct 3, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Nutrition & Wound Healing, Quality Payment Program
What scares me is the fact that I didn’t really pay attention to this until I started developing quality measures for wound care. But now that I’m paying attention, the extent of it is terrifying. In one day I saw three patients who were starving, two of whom had on...
