by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jan 16, 2020 | Fight the Good Fight, Healthcare Payment Policy
My friend from England has an expression she learned from her Mother, an ambulance driver during the London Blitz: “It’s a great life if you don’t weaken.” The field of wound management is in for a lot of big changes in 2020. As with anything...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jan 10, 2020 | Healthcare Payment Policy
Check out this CMS summary regarding the HBOT prior authorization program!...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Dec 9, 2019 | Fight the Good Fight, Healthcare Payment Policy
Last week my editorial in Today’s Wound Clinic stimulated a lot of comment and I was (perhaps rightly) criticized for implying that national wound care meetings are not important. My point is that scientific meetings become a lot less relevant if Wound Management...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Dec 6, 2019 | Fight the Good Fight, Healthcare Payment Policy
Re-printed from Today’s Wound Clinic We are at an important crossroads in the field of wound management. From the perspective of new technologies, the future is bright. Unfortunately, the future of the field itself is dismal. Under Medicare’s new Quality Payment...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Dec 3, 2019 | Do the Right Thing: Thoughts on Quality, Fight the Good Fight, Healthcare Payment Policy
The Alliance of Wound Care Stakeholders parterned with the US Wound Registry (USWR) to develop a suite of wound care relevant quality measures. This year, 3 of those CMS approved quality measures were selected for depiction on Physician Compare. An article about this...
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 | Healthcare Payment Policy
Here’s a link to the fact sheet on the final rule – stay tuned for my interpretation of its impact on wound management practitioners.
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 5, 2019 | Healthcare Payment Policy
Here are links to information about the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and Quality Payment Program and the Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) final rules: Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System: Final Rule and Fact Sheet...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 4, 2019 | Healthcare Payment Policy
It’s finally happened. It’s no secret that many Hospital Based Outpatient Departments (HOPDs) have played fast and loose with the requirement for direct physician supervision of nearly all wound management services. At any rate, the requirement for direct physician...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Oct 28, 2019 | Healthcare Payment Policy
Wound Care Compare is Here. I’ve previously blogged about the exciting news that Physician Compare selected 3 USWR QCDR measures relevant to wound care to depict on Physician Compare: Adequate off loading of DFUs, Adequate Compression of VLUs and arterial screening of...
