by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Mar 17, 2023 | The Patient's Voice, Uncategorized
I have been raising awareness about the direct link between documentation and surgical dressing supplies – and why DME companies have become so “demanding” in terms of the documentation they need to see. The DME companies have been audited nearly to death by Medicare...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Feb 3, 2023 | Fight the Good Fight, The Patient's Voice
Morgan McCoy is one of those patients who inspires me. She’s been courageously talking about the experience of her above knee amputation due to a necrotizing infection, and the long journey to healing and function afterwards. Here’s a link to her excellent article...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Dec 21, 2022 | Fight the Good Fight, Tales of the Medicare Disadvantaged, The Patient's Voice
I haven’t been able to get this patient off my mind. He’s a kind and likable man who was active in his church and living independently, despite an above-knee amputation on one side and chronic lymphedema of the other leg. He had made a living as a truck driver until...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 28, 2022 | Fight the Good Fight, The Patient's Voice
A patient sent me this message and I decided to post it. It speaks for itself. –Caroline I have many chronic medical conditions that contribute to recurrent wounds. I have chronic heart issues, and am wheelchair bound due to a muscle disease – among other...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 27, 2022 | Fight the Good Fight, The Patient's Voice
A patient sent me this message so I decided to post it. It speaks for itself. –Caroline I have many chronic medical conditions that contribute to recurrent wounds. I have chronic heart issues and am wheelchair-bound due to a muscle disease – among other...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Mar 25, 2022 | Fight the Good Fight, The Patient's Voice
The Old Testament book of Job is the story of a righteous man whose faithfulness God allowed Satan to test. He lost his financial security, family, friends and his health. The news of the loss of his children was delivered by the lone survivor of the massacre....
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 30, 2021 | Healthcare Payment Policy, Tales of the Medicare Disadvantaged, The Patient's Voice
Here’s a new post from our Patient Correspondent, Patricia Han, RN, about Medicare Drug Plans. She’s a retired nurse with many chronic health problems who used to be employed by a payer. I always learn something that a doctor ought to know from her real world examples...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 10, 2021 | Healthcare Payment Policy, Tales of the Medicare Disadvantaged, The Patient's Voice
Why my patient with Medicare Advantage does not have any wound dressings, even though he has had “skilled home health” for 3 weeks. And to make this more fun, my hospital says we are spending too much staff time on each patient so we need to see them faster. This...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | May 27, 2021 | Tales of the Medicare Disadvantaged, The Patient's Voice
This is a 61 year old patient with weeping legs due to edema from heart failure. When I first saw her, I did arterial screening with skin perfusion pressure and her SPP values were 54 mmHg and 60 mmHg with a reasonable pulse volume recording, which means she doesn’t...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Jan 22, 2021 | Healthcare Payment Policy, The Patient's Voice
It’s happening more and more often. Patients have such high co-pays and deductibles that the basic things needed for wound management are becoming unaffordable. I am seeing this with private pay insurance and with Medicare Advantage plans (see more about this in...
