by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Feb 26, 2020 | Healthcare Payment Policy, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Medicare review contractors (Medicare Administrative Contractors, Recovery Audit Contractors and the Supplemental Medical Review Contractor) develop and maintain lists of reasons for denying payment for Medicare covered services like hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT)....
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Feb 14, 2020 | Healthcare Payment Policy, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
I was asked to take a look at a 50-page report on a wound center’s post-payment review of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) services. Nearly all the wounds that were treated were truly limb-threatening, and most of the patients got better. Unfortunately, their...
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 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 18, 2019 | Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, US Wound Registry
Nearly every week I get a question about the different registry participation options for wound care and hyperbaric medicine. We need all the data we can get in the fields of wound care and hyperbaric medicine. The thought process should not be that one approach is...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Oct 8, 2019 | Healthcare Payment Policy, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Guest blog post by Dick Clarke of National Baromedical Services On August 1 of this year, a bill entitled the “North Carolina Veterans Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Treatment and Recovery Act” (House Bill 50 / SL 2019-175)...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 25, 2019 | Fight the Good Fight, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Have you ever seen an oxygen toxicity seizure? You can see one on this You Tube, produced by the U.S. Navy many years ago. Here are the verbatim comments of hyperbaric technicians (from the Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Registry) who observed oxygen seizures during...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 15, 2019 | Healthcare Payment Policy, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Noridian has started sending out letters to notify hospitals of post-payment review of outpatient HBOT charged records from 2018 (G0277). See below for the pitfalls of writing the usual HBOT note. If you do not order the HBOT for that day, you will likely not get...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jan 9, 2019 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Do the Right Thing: Thoughts on Quality, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
I heard a few firecrackers on New Year’s eve, but the big fireworks in our industry go off on January 7th, 2019. That’s because the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has established a new physician specialty code for Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jan 7, 2019 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Most hyperbaric oxygen therapy practitioners know about the first OIG (Office of Inspector General) audit of HBOT which happened in 1998 (published in 2000). I’ve blogged about this before because I was the (relatively young) President of the Undersea and Hyperbaric...
