by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jan 15, 2019 | Cellular / Tissue-Based Products, Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Quality Payment Program
Since clinicians were first offered a financial incentive to purchase and use an electronic health record (EHR) to obtain bonus money (or avoid penalties), they have been required to use only “certified EHR technology” (CEHRT). The names of the various payment...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Dec 20, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Quality Payment Program
In 2017, many wound care practitioners failed MIPS Quality Measures because the EHRs they paid good money for didn’t do their freaking job. In 2017, the US Wound Registry (USWR) reported Merit Based Incentive Payment Program (MIPS) data on behalf of wound care...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Dec 17, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Quality Payment Program
The 2018 Quality Payment Program Exception Application period ends on December 31, 2018 If you are a practitioner who is subject to the Merit Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), for the 2018 reporting year, there are two types of exceptions for which you might be...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Dec 10, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Quality Payment Program
Last week CMS rejected a quality measure developed by the US Wound Registry (USWR) which was the Appropriate Use of Surgical Dressings from a DME for patients with wounds. That quality measure was designed to drive the electronic ordering of wound dressings for home...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 26, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Quality Payment Program
Since I’ve been left to figure out this quality thing for wound care pretty much on my own, I’ve had a lot of ups and downs. One of my goals (but not the only one) is to develop quality measures to help practitioners and patients survive the increasing pressure of...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 19, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Quality Payment Program
“Million Hearts,” which launched in 2012, is a national initiative by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Its 5-year aim was to prevent a million acute cardiovascular events by improving...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Nov 16, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Quality Payment Program
The Alliance of Wound Care Stakeholders has alerted its member organizations to a “policy article” just released by the Medicare Administrative Carrier (MAC) Noridian limiting coverage of Cellular and/or Tissue Based Products (CTPs) to the treatment of Venous Leg...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Oct 23, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Quality Payment Program
In a recent interview, American Medical Association (AMA) President Barbara McAneny discussed the fact that insurance prior authorization can create major disruptions to patient care and significant administrative burdens to the physician’s office. The AMA estimates...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Oct 3, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Nutrition & Wound Healing, Quality Payment Program
What scares me is the fact that I didn’t really pay attention to this until I started developing quality measures for wound care. But now that I’m paying attention, the extent of it is terrifying. In one day I saw three patients who were starving, two of whom had on...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 15, 2018 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care, Quality Payment Program
Make plans to join me at the annual American Professional Wound Care Association clinical conference in Baltimore September 6-8. I’ll be talking about whether wounds are really a chronic disease, a topic that has big implications in the area of healthcare policy, and...
