Poster PI-011

Home Health and Wound Clinics; A Complicated Relationship

Tifanie Sbriscia, MSN, RN, CWON

Andrew Wheeler, PT, DPT, CWS – Director of Therapy Services; Jordan Wuest, MHA – VNA Health Group; Elizabeth Zink, RN, WCC – VNA Health Group; Stella Smoleski, RN, WCC, OMS – VNA Health Group

Presented at Symposium on Advanced Wound Care Spring Spring 2022

Intro: Dedicated, brick and mortar wound clinics have been a part of the specialty provider landscape for more than two decades (Shah, 2011). The reality that wound clinics may rely heavily on a robust Home Health Agency (HHA) clinical response for supply procurement, dressing changes, case management, disease state management, vitals/sepsis monitoring and multidisciplinary support can be cause for concern.

Method: This retrospective study was conducted to investigate the potential quantitative effects to patients and HHAs who had wounds co-managed by a wound clinic (WC) and those who had wounds managed primarily by the agency’s wound and ostomy team (WOT). The subsequent control group (CG) were patients that had diagnoses of wounds and wound documentation in the Electronic Medical Record (EMR). The agency EMR and Electronic Data Warehouse (EDW) and supply vendor were used for analysis of patient data. Results: A reduction in average wound surface area was calculated by comparing the earliest wound measurements and the latest wound measurements (CMS episodes of care; 2020-2021) and revealed as follows: CG 50% reduction, WC 46% reduction, WOT 70% reduction. Average cost of supplies per episode were calculated using available vendor data and revealed as follows: CG $184.33, WC $267.57, WOT $237.48. Average billable visits per first period were calculated using agency EDW and revealed: CG 12.45 visits, WC 9.64 visits, WOT 12.70 visits.

Discussion: The results revealed a marked improvement in average surface area reduction in the WOT group and may be attributed to the agency’s commitment to ongoing touchpoints (secure live video, phone and email consultation) by the field clinicians and wound team specialists.

References

Ennis, W., & Sheridan, M. (2021, January 14). The impact of stalled wounds on patient outcomes. Healogics. https://www.healogics.com/providers/resources/the-impact-of-stalled-wounds-on-patient-outcomes/Rogers, L. C., Armstrong, D. G., Capotorto, J., Fife, C. E., Garcia, J. R., Gelly, H., Gurtner, G. C., Lavery, L. A., Marston, W., Neville, R., Nusgart, M., Ravitz, K., & Woelfel, S. (2020). Wound center without walls: The new model of providing care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Wounds, 32(7), 178–185.Seaton, P., Cant, R. P., & Trip, H. T. (2020). Quality indicators for a community-based wound care centre: An integrative review. International Wound Journal, 17(3), 587–600. https://doi.org/10.1111/iwj.13308Shah, J. B. (2011). The history of wound care. The Journal of the American College of Certified Wound Specialists, 3(3), 65-66. doi:10.1016/j.jcws.2012.04.002

Follow us on Twitter!

Meeting Highlights

Webinars

Proposed LCDs & LCAs for CTPs: NOW WHAT?

A New Paradigm Shift in Wound Care: Intimate Conversations about Missed Opportunities to Help Rethink What’s Possible with Early Initiation of Instillation Therapy and Beyond

Presented by: Luis G. Fernández, MD, KHS, KCOEG, FACS, FASAS, FCCP, FCCM, FICS; Paul J. Kim, DPM, MS, FACFAS; and Saeed A. Chowdhry, MD, FACS. It is known in the literature about the clinical and economic benefits of instillation therapy, ranging from reductions in hospital stays to fe...