by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jan 28, 2020 | Healthcare Payment Policy
I’ve talked to a lot of you lately and to save time, I have decided to write an open letter to manufacturers in the wound care space. This advice is free – which means no one will value it, but here is what I wish you were paying attention to: Medicare (at least)...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jan 27, 2020 | Healthcare Payment Policy
In October 2019, a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reported that waste accounts for roughly one-quarter of all U.S. healthcare spending. A conservative estimate of the cost of waste is over $900 billion annually. Former CMS...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jan 23, 2020 | Healthcare Payment Policy, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
The PA project accomplished its objective. HBOT utilization is now at a 10-year low, although that’s not entirely due to the completed prior authorization project. It is unfortunate CMS did not report how much the project cost to implement. We know it’s pointless to...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jan 22, 2020 | Healthcare Payment Policy
Today we’re re-visiting last year’s post about Changing Your Physician Specialty Code. It’s a relatively fast and simple process – but for Wound Care Practitioners, it’s an important step. Changing your designation to D4 will decrease the...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jan 20, 2020 | Healthcare Payment Policy
I’m re-posting these helpful instructions for finding your HCC score from a previous guest post by Dr. Helen Gelly. The importance of your HCC score cannot be overstated! To find out your HCC score for 2017 and the years prior, follow these easy steps: Step...
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, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Check out this CMS summary regarding the HBOT prior authorization program! mpa-hbo-fnlevalrpt-fg Caroline Fife, M.D.Dr. Fife is a world renowned wound care physician dedicated to improving patient outcomes through quality driven care. Please visit my blog...
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 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, 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...
