by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Dec 17, 2024 | Do the Right Thing: Thoughts on Quality, Fight the Good Fight, Healthcare Payment Policy, US Wound Registry
It’s almost time! Join us today for our exclusive webinar, “Quality Measures: Why they don’t mean anything, but maybe everything.” Dec 17 | 4 PM EST Click Here to Register Caroline Fife, M.D.Dr. Fife is a world renowned wound care physician dedicated to...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Oct 22, 2024 | Healthcare Payment Policy
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced its Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems final rule that includes a new Age Friendly Hospital Measure. Beginning in 2025, hospitals that participate in...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Oct 8, 2024 | Fight the Good Fight, Healthcare Payment Policy
Medicare’s Quality Payment Program vs. Wound Care Practitioners | Today’s Wound Clinic Today’s Wound Clinic just posted an article I wrote about everyone’s favorite topic, MIPS! Here’s a table with the MIPS quality measures that might be reportable by most wound...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 23, 2024 | Fight the Good Fight, Healthcare Payment Policy
Patricia Han is a retired nurse with very serious health challenges who struggles with chronic wounds. She’s written articles about Medicare Advantage vs. regular Medicare for patients with wounds, as well as what she wishes every wound care practitioner knew (see...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 12, 2024 | Healthcare Payment Policy
Starting Nov. 18, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) will no longer pay physicians for outpatient or inpatient consultations when they report those services with Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes 99242 – 99245 and 99252 – 99255. According to...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 9, 2024 | Healthcare Payment Policy, Medicare Audits
I have been posting warnings about the increase in Medicare audits, especially for CTPs/skin subs and hyperbaric oxygen therapy for many years. Because everyone was being audited, I KNEW that my hospital-based outpatient department (HOPD) was going to be audited. The...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 26, 2024 | Fight the Good Fight, Healthcare Payment Policy
Noridian, besides being the Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) for Medicare benefits within a specific area of the country, also handles Durable Medical Equipment (DME) benefits for Jurisdiction D. As a DME MAC, Noridian recently issued an “update” on the...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | May 7, 2024 | Fight the Good Fight, Healthcare Payment Policy, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
CMS recently announced that the Total Per Capita Cost (TPCC) cost measure is now open for comment. CMS (through its contractor, Acumen) is gathering comments on the TPCC measure to determine updates to the measure’s attribution methodology (“attribution” is the...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Apr 30, 2024 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes, Healthcare Payment Policy
On April 25, ALL 8 CMS Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) released proposed LCD/LCAs for Skin Substitutes/CTPs for DFUs and VLUs. I have already mentioned the fact that the proposed policy sets a limit of 4 CTP applications per year (although additional...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Apr 9, 2024 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, CTP / Skin Substitutes, Fight the Good Fight, Healthcare Payment Policy
United Healthcare has updated its Skin and Soft Tissue Substitutes policy effective May 1, 2024, which details the coverage and documentation criteria specifically for EpiFix or Grafix® (GrafixPL, GrafixPRIME and GrafixPL PRIME) (Non-Injectable). The policy also...
