by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jul 30, 2015 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Miscellaneous Musings, Pressure Cooker: Rethinking Pressure Ulcers, US Wound Registry
This is one of my patients who developed an abscess and wound dehiscence following an ankle reconstruction. We were worried that he might be developing osteomyelitis. He works at a plant and uses an infrared thermometer to check for hotspots in the mechanical...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jul 27, 2015 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Miscellaneous Musings, Pressure Cooker: Rethinking Pressure Ulcers, US Wound Registry
Last month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services made public more hospital and physician billing data. The 2013 data covers about 950,000 providers who received $90 billion in Medicare payments. Medicare’s highest physician payments went to hematologists and...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jul 23, 2015 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Miscellaneous Musings, Pressure Cooker: Rethinking Pressure Ulcers, US Wound Registry
They say the ancient Egyptians used honey as a dressing. Interesting that we came back around to it as an industry only to have CMS decide NOT to cover it. Caroline Fife, M.D.Dr. Fife is a world renowned wound care physician dedicated to improving patient outcomes...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jul 16, 2015 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Miscellaneous Musings, Pressure Cooker: Rethinking Pressure Ulcers, US Wound Registry
Remember when the only advanced dressing we had was Duoderm? I still love that stuff. It is still one of the best debriding agents there is. I take Duoderm paste (not gel but PASTE) and cover it with a Duoderm pad and in about 3 days the autolytic debridement is...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jul 13, 2015 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Miscellaneous Musings, Pressure Cooker: Rethinking Pressure Ulcers, US Wound Registry
Last week I asked how things were going with getting eCQMs into your EHR. You need to do this to avoid negative payment adjustments but also because your performance on quality measures may very likely be the way that payers decide WHETHER they will send patients to...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jul 9, 2015 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Miscellaneous Musings, Pressure Cooker: Rethinking Pressure Ulcers, US Wound Registry
There are a lot of wonderful cleansers out there but some of my patients can’t afford them. This is the recipe that I give them to make a 0.25% acetic acid solution if they have the classic neon green drainage of Pseudomonas: 3 Tbsp white vinegar in 1 quart distilled...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jul 7, 2015 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Miscellaneous Musings, Pressure Cooker: Rethinking Pressure Ulcers, US Wound Registry
Here’s great photos of “neon green drainage.” It’s a bit hard to see how green it is so here’s a wound photo that shows the drainage can be so green it’s nearly black. Caroline Fife, M.D.Dr. Fife is a world renowned wound care physician dedicated to improving patient...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jul 2, 2015 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Miscellaneous Musings, Pressure Cooker: Rethinking Pressure Ulcers, US Wound Registry
In recognition of the upcoming Independence Day holiday, I’m honoring Dr. James Tilton (June 1, 1745—May 14, 1822) an American physician and soldier from Dover, Delaware. He attended the College of Philadelphia (later the University of Pennsylvania) earning his...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jul 1, 2015 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Miscellaneous Musings, Pressure Cooker: Rethinking Pressure Ulcers, US Wound Registry
I learn a lot from the dressings that we take OFF of patients. I make sure that they are not thrown away before I look at them. What can you tell from this dressing? Is there a problem with the way that the absorptive pad has been used? Caroline Fife, M.D.Dr. Fife is...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jun 29, 2015 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Miscellaneous Musings, Pressure Cooker: Rethinking Pressure Ulcers, US Wound Registry
On Mondays in the month of June I am focusing on the way that quality measures will be used to evaluate practitioner performance inside and outside a healthcare organization, including compensation packages and contracted rates with payers. There are thousands of...
