by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 15, 2015 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
I am trying 2 new cellular-based products at the moment. I won’t say which ones they are. I am grateful to have sample products to try since there are always patients who don’t have secondary insurance and can’t afford the copays if I have to charge them, or whose...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 14, 2015 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Pressure Cooker: Rethinking Pressure Ulcers, Quality Payment Program, US Wound Registry
Are you thinking that PQRS is only for practitioners? More and more hospitals are on the hook to get PQRS right. This year, the Physician Quality Reporting System payment “adjustments” officially move from the incentive to the penalty phase. I’ve talked a lot about...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 9, 2015 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
While there are a lot of HIPAA issues to keep track of regarding patients with cell phones taking photos in clinic, I use them a lot. This is a photo of a patient’s wife (which is why she isn’t wearing gloves!) taking a photo of his toe so he can see the wound (it’s...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 8, 2015 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
Today, not one but 2 different companies talked to me about their new anti-biofilm treatment. Their mechanisms of action are entirely different. The only things they have in common are that they are both colorless and applied topically. Both companies (who had no...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 7, 2015 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Miscellaneous Musings, Pressure Cooker: Rethinking Pressure Ulcers, US Wound Registry
The drug industry, patients and consumers are urging the FDA to find better ways to integrate the patient perspective in drug development, as well as a way to use “real world” data in drug development. It will be interesting to see how the FDA reacts to the growing...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 2, 2015 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
What is this unusual skin eruption? Is it some kind of infestation? No, it’s a wrongly applied NPWT dressing. The home nurse applied the VAC sponge right over the patient’s skin. Caroline Fife, M.D.Dr. Fife is a world renowned wound care physician dedicated to...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Sep 1, 2015 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
Here’s some straight talk on clinical pathways. We’ve all gotten the message on “evidence based” medicine by which payers use data, primarily from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to decide what treatments they will cover. I’ve had some concerns about that since...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 31, 2015 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Miscellaneous Musings, Pressure Cooker: Rethinking Pressure Ulcers, US Wound Registry
I mentioned a “pay for performance” model that CMS is trying out for Home Health Agencies. Well, an AHRQ study published in the British Medical Journal explored ways in which data were collected and used in Nursing Homes as a result of participation in a...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 28, 2015 | Fight the Good Fight, Health Information Technology and Wound Care
Good morning and Happy Friday! Friday’s on the blog are reserved for “Ask the Physician Friday.” If you have any questions for me please feel free to leave them in the comments below, ask on Twitter (@carolinefifemd), or on Facebook (@Woodlands Wound Physicians). I...
by Caroline Fife, M.D. | Aug 27, 2015 | Cassandra Chronicles: Regulatory and Coverage Policy, Miscellaneous Musings, Pressure Cooker: Rethinking Pressure Ulcers, US Wound Registry
Here are 2 binders full of nursing notes on a patient with a pressure ulcer. I spent about 6 hours trying to find an entry that was different from the ones “auto-populated” day after day after day for weeks. In other words, the previous days observations were just...
