Chapter Town Hall 2026: Gulf Coast Chapter: Clinical Hyperbaric Medicine
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Virtual: PT: 9am; MT: 10am: CT:11am; ET: 12pm
FEES:
MEMBER: Physician/PhD or Equivalent - $70
MEMBER: Non-Physician/Resident/Fellow/Student - $50
NON-MEMBER: Physician/PhD or Equivalent - $90
NON-MEMBER: Non-Physician/Resident/Fellow/Student - $70
Sponsorships are welcome. Contact uhms@uhms.org
UHMS Cancellation/Refund Policy on Chapter Town Halls: $25 administrative fee will be held on all Chapter Town Hall cancellations from the time you register, until 60 days prior to the meeting/course date. From 59 days to one (1) month prior, 50% of fees will be held on all cancellations. NO REFUNDS will be issued one (1) month before or after the meeting/course date.
Event Properties
| Event Start Date | 03-07-2026 |
| Event End Date | 03-07-2026 |
| Location | Virtual platform |
| Categories | UHMS Directly Provided Meeting |
Ben Slade
MD
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1990-97: First medical director of the Clinical Hyperbaric Facility at Travis Air Force Base, CA.
1997-2003: Associate hyperbaric medical director, Doctors Medical Center, where patient treatments included burn victims from the co-located burn center.
Hyperbaric contract physician at Travis AFB in 2003-2023.
Current UHMS involvement includes the UHMS Education Committee, Accreditation Council and a member of the American Board of Preventive Medicine Longitudinal Assessment Program Committee. He has numerous publications and has co-authored several book chapters.
John Feldmeier
DO
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Dr. Feldmeier is professor emeritus of radiation oncology at the University of Toledo from which he has retired as the long-term chairman. He has been recognized as a “Best Doctor” since 2007 until his retirement in 2014. He is the past chairman of the Hyperbaric Medicine Facility at Wright-Patterson AFB. He is a past president of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society. He is the Editor of the UHMS Indications Manual, 11th Edition. He is recognized as an expert in applying hyperbaric oxygen to the management of radiation injuries. He is board certified in both radiation oncology and hyperbaric medicine. He is a Fellow of Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine as well as a Fellow of the American College of Hyperbaric Medicine. He currently serves as a co-chair of the UHMS Research Committee. He is a member of the Accreditation Council and a Surveyor for the UHMS Accreditation Program. He co-chairs the FDA Liaison Committee. He is the 2021 recipient of the prestigious Albert Behnke Award of the UHMS.
Michael Crouch
CHT, CPC, CPMA
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Michael J. Crouch is a Certified Professional Coder (CPC) and Medical Auditor (CPMA) with more than 30 years of experience in wound care and hyperbaric medicine. He has served in senior leadership roles, including VP of Reimbursement and Corporate Hyperbaric Safety Officer, supporting over 300 outpatient wound centers. His background includes directing multiplace hyperbaric programs, conducting extensive revenue cycle compliance audits, and providing education for clinicians and providers.
Mr. Crouch has contributed to the field through service on AAWCM and UHMS committees, including roles as UHMS Associates Chair and UHMS Facility Accreditation surveyor. He has authored multiple articles and textbook chapters and currently leads the consulting firm he founded in 2017, specializing in revenue cycle operations and regulatory compliance for outpatient wound management programs.
Paul Harch
MD
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Paul G. Harch, M.D. is an emergency medicine and hyperbaric medicine clinician and researcher who is a Clinical Professor of Medicine, Section of Emergency Medicine, at LSU School of Medicine, New Orleans, and former director of the University Medical Center Hyperbaric Medicine Department and LSU Hyperbaric Medicine Fellowship. His career in hyperbaric medicine was stimulated by a discovery in 1989, assisted by a recommendation for treatment by Dr. Richard Neubauer, that cerebral DCI was treatable long-after the accepted limit of 24h. This finding was coupled with HBOT-induced neurological improvement in boxers with dementia pugulistica (in a 1989 study by colleagues Dr. Keith Van Meter and Sheldon Gottlieb) and a two-year-old drowned child. Convergence of these events led to an off-label extension of HBOT to patients with other chronic neurological disorders, animal research, clinical research, and the first treatment of neurological patients with a wide range of disorders, including TBI, dementia, CP, pediatric and adult HIE, toxic brain injury, PTSD, and genetic disorders. Included was the first application to veterans with TBI and PTSD. Currently, he is focused on further development of individual HBOT dosing techniques for neurological disorders and establishing HBOT as an epigenetic therapy with extensiveapplications.
| 12:00-12:05 pm |
Introduction/CE Requirements |
| 1205-1305 |
A Review of Recent Publications Supporting Hyperbaric Oxygen as a Treatment for Radiation Injury: John Feldmeier, DOAbout the Lecture
The presenter will review several recent publications giving additional support for the use of hyperbaric oxygen for the treatment of delayed radiation injuries.
|
| 1305-1405 |
Adjunctive hyperbaric oxygen for thermal burns: Ben Slade, MDAbout the Lecture
Discuss the pathophysiology of acute thermal burns, rationale for the use of hyperbaric oxygen, controversies, clinical experience and literature update.
|
| 1405-1410 |
Break |
| 1410-1510 |
Surviving the Audit Era: Documentation, Billing, and Reimbursement Pitfalls for WC/HBOT Services: Michael Crouch, CHT, CPC, CPMAAbout the Lecture
This lecture explains the current environment of Medicare audits affecting wound care and hyperbaric oxygen therapy, emphasizing the documentation and billing difficulties providers face when responding to additional documentation requests. It also reviews the specific documentation requirements for HBOT indications that commonly lead to denials.
|
| 1510-1610 |
Investigational Uses – PTSD, ischemic brain injury: Paul Harch, MDAbout the Lecture |