Caroline E. Fife, MD, FAAFP, CWS, FUHM

Vascular Assessment

Vascular Assessment Enters the 21st Century

12/09/2019

Caroline E. Fife , MD, FAAFP, CWS, FUHM;

New, non-invasive vascular technologies are the key to better outcomes and efficient management of wound care patients. These expert panelists discuss innovative technologies for vascular evaluation, also comparing the efficacy of tests such...

New, non-invasive vascular...

12/09/2019

Today's Wound Clinic

Letter from the Editor

The Handwriting on the Wall for Wound Management

12/05/2019

Caroline E. Fife , MD, FAAFP, CWS, FUHM;

We are at an important crossroads in the field of wound management. From the perspective of new technologies, the future is bright. Unfortunately, the future of the field itself is dismal. Under Medicare’s new Quality Payment Program (QPP),...

We are at an important...

12/05/2019

Today's Wound Clinic

From the Editor

Medicare (Non) Coverage for Debridement: The WPS LCD and What We Really Need to Worry About

11/06/2019

Caroline E. Fife , MD, FAAFP, CWS, FUHM;

A new Local Coverage Determination (LCD) for debridement does not include diabetic foot ulcers in the list of conditions for which debridement is covered. However, the real omission may be “the wounds with no name.” Wisconsin Physicians...

A new Local Coverage...

11/06/2019

Today's Wound Clinic

Pressure Injuries

What Really Causes Pressure Ulcers and How Can We Prevent Them?

11/05/2019

Caroline E. Fife , MD, FAAFP, CWS, FUHM;

This author shares a story of a pressure ulcer that occurred during an unrelated surgery and theorizes that some pressure ulcers are due to angiosomal ischemia and not localized pressure. You can’t get the right prevention in place if you...

This author shares a story of a...

11/05/2019

Today's Wound Clinic

CMS

Get on Board With the Quality Payment Program

11/04/2019

Caroline E. Fife , MD, FAAFP, CWS, FUHM;

In the last two years, the Quality Payment Program (QPP) has changed the way wound clinicians practice. This author assesses the status of the QPP, specifically how the program can help improve the quality of patient care and patient outcomes...

In the last two years, the...

11/04/2019

Today's Wound Clinic

Letter from the Editor

Goodbye Volume, Hello Value

09/30/2019

Caroline E. Fife , MD, FAAFP, CWS, FUHM;

How much of your time do you spend focused on volume-based payment (the way you have always done things) vs. the new value-based system? Are you beginning the transition away from volume-based payment, or hoping you can retire before you have...

How much of your time do you...

09/30/2019

Today's Wound Clinic

From the Editor

How NPWT Changed Wound Care and Why We Need to Think Like Oncologists

09/03/2019

Caroline E. Fife , MD, FAAFP, CWS, FUHM;

My suite-mate in college used to refer to vacuuming as “Hoovering.” The first manufacturer of technology often becomes synonymous for the technology itself. I still remember the first time a representative from KCI came to talk to me about a...

My suite-mate in college used to...

09/03/2019

Today's Wound Clinic

Letter from the Editor

A Way to Save Wound Care

08/02/2019

Caroline E. Fife , MD, FAAFP, CWS, FUHM;

Normally we would remove a physician with numbers like that from our provider network.” That’s what the chief medical officer of a clinically integrated network (CIN) said on this week’s monthly physician advisory board conference...

Normally we would remove a...

08/02/2019

Today's Wound Clinic

CMS

The Uphill Path to Value-Based Wound Care with Nutritional Assessment

07/03/2019

Caroline E. Fife , MD, FAAFP, CWS, FUHM;

For decades, payment for most outpatient healthcare services has been based on the volume of services delivered. This approach can create perverse incentives for practitioners to provide more numerous or more expensive treatments than...

For decades, payment for most...

07/03/2019

Today's Wound Clinic

From the Editor

Nutrition, Wound Healing, and Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

07/03/2019

Caroline E. Fife , MD, FAAFP, CWS, FUHM;

In about 1991, I was a new faculty member at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston. One quiet Saturday morning I took my Mom and Dad to see the original section of Hermann Hospital, a Spanish Colonial building dating to...

In about 1991, I was a new...

07/03/2019

Today's Wound Clinic