Tiffany Hamm, BSN, ACHRN, CWS is the co-founder and Chief Nursing Officer of WoundReference, Inc., a clinical and reimbursement decision support platform for wound care and hyperbaric clinicians. She is principal partner of Midwest Hyperbaric LLC, a hyperbaric and wound consultative service. Tiffany is also an Advanced Certified Hyperbaric Registered Nurse and Certified Wound Specialist with expertise in billing, coding and reimbursement specific to hyperbaric medicine and wound care services. UHMS Accreditation Surveyor. Tiffany received her primary and advanced hyperbaric training through National Baromedical Services in Columbia, South Carolina.
Jeff Mize, RRT, CHT, CWCA is co-founder and Chief Clinical Officer for Wound Reference, a clinical and reimbursement decision support platform for wound care and hyperbaric clinicians. He is principal partner with Midwest Hyperbaric LLC, a hyperbaric and wound consultative service. Jeff is a Registered Respiratory Therapist, a Certified Hyperbaric Technologist (CHT) by the National Board of Diving and Hyperbaric Medical Technology, and a Certified Wound Care Associate (CWCA) by the American Academy of Wound Management. After receiving primary hyperbaric training from National Baromedical Services, he trained as a UHMS Safety Director and is a UHMS Facility Accreditation Surveyor. He is the 2010 recipient of the Gurnee Award and the 2013 recipient of the Paul C. Baker Award for Hyperbaric Oxygen Safety Excellence. He has also served on the UHMS Board of Directors (2010-2015).
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Thursday, September 19, 2019
A common scenario occurring in wound clinics all over the nation is the request for follow-up wound services by surgeons during the post-operative global period. Wound clinic physicians might be seeing these patients with the intention of offloading some of the work for the surgeon or believing that they are increasing volume in their own clinics. Wound clinic physicians must be aware of the surgical global packaging rules as they relate to the transfer of care from one provider to another.
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Thursday, September 05, 2019
Knowing emergency procedures and drills are critical to safety in the workplace and for your patients. Performing drills can help in the following ways: 1. You can ensure that alarms/equipment are working properly. 2. Everybody knows their roles and responsibilities and becomes confident with how to respond to an emergency. 3. You can validate that your emergency procedures are effective or identify areas that need improvement. There are many emergency scenarios that hyperbaric staff should be prepared to respond to.
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Thursday, August 22, 2019
Denied claims due to unauthorized patient procedures or services can be responsible for a major loss in revenue. Although most medical offices and provider-based departments are moving closer to 100% verification for patient services, there is still no guarantee that every account will be paid. Claims that are denied due to no prior authorization happen primarily in a hospital setting. To ensure your claims will be paid, plan ahead, meticulously document, and follow the regulations as noted below.
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Thursday, August 01, 2019
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) for diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) has been shown to improve healing rates and decrease the number of major amputations in the diabetic population. Recent research and evidence have driven the new paradigm of aggressive treatment and the attempt to save a limb, if at all possible, to prevent the morbidity and mortality associated with a major amputation. This article outlines how to prevent Medicare denials of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) when treating diabetic foot ulcers (DFU).
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Tuesday, July 23, 2019
One of the keys to a successful patient outcome is assessing nutritional status. If the patient is malnourished, there is insufficient nutritional substrate from which to build new tissue to heal a wound. One out of three patients treated at hyperbaric services can be at risk of malnutrition. The definition of a nutritional assessment in the National Coverage Determination NCD 20.29 for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is vague. Although an assessment of nutritional status should be routinely performed on all patients seen in the outpatient wound clinic, the protocol is not well-defined. Many times, the patient’s nutritional evaluation and management is directed back to the primary care or referring physician.
