by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 8, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
I received an email from a physician who expressed how difficult it was to stay updated on the requirements for HBOT documentation. Dr. Helen Gelly has written about this extensively and I have posted blogs about this before. I reviewed the HBOT documentation...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Mar 28, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
In February 2018, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report entitled “WISCONSIN PHYSICIANS SERVICE PAID PROVIDERS FOR HYPERBARIC OXYGEN THERAPY SERVICES THAT DID NOT COMPLY WITH MEDICARE REQUIREMENTS.” The OIG evaluated the region under the...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Mar 14, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years since I was president of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS). I thought my biggest challenge would be trying develop an approach to off-label use of HBOT. As it turned out, only weeks after I took office,...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Mar 1, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, Quality Payment Program
Yesterday a friend who practices hyperbaric medicine called me about a reimbursement question because she had just read the Novitas LCD on the subject. I told her that the Novitas LCD was the least of our problems. HBOT utilization is down 50% across the USA. Listed...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Feb 19, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, Quality Payment Program
Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine has published an update on the Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Registry – “Driving Quality and Demonstrating Compliance.” The HBOTR is one of the specialty registries sponsored by the US Wound Registry (USWR). The HBOTR could be used...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Feb 6, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
The math for hyperbaric oxygen can be confusing. I wrote an article for Today’s Wound Clinic about the ethics of off-label hyperbaric oxygen therapy. I said I’d provide the math here. The earth’s atmosphere weighs down on us with a specific amount of pressure. If you...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jun 28, 2017 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, Quality Payment Program
I’ve attached a link to a Kaiser Health News article that came out today (June 28) about Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) that is less than flattering, and another in the Washington Post printed yesterday by the same author. Some of the battles we face in...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jun 7, 2017 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
Attention Hyperbaric Medicine Colleagues, especially those in New Jersey, Michigan and Illinois! Please read the important note below from UHMS Executive Director, John Peters. Dear Hyperbaric Medicine Practitioner, The Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS)...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | May 31, 2017 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
ALERT! “Targeted” Pre-payment review of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy to occur in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska The Medicare Administrative Carrier “WPS” has announced a Targeted Medical Review (TMR) of 100 claims for hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the states of...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 30, 2016 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy
The Hyperbaric oxygen therapy prior authorization project has been in effect a little more than a year and CMS is in the process of reviewing its impact to prepare an interim report. As the Medicare coffers dwindle, we have to ask ourselves how we can best utilize...
