10 Years With Today’s Wound Clinic: Founding Board Members’ Retrospective

“I remember the first phone conversation about the ‘new journal’ for wound care clinicians. At first there was skepticism about the value of a non-peer-reviewed periodical. As it happens, only a few months prior, I had published a peer-reviewed article on the safety of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) among patients taking anticoagulants. It was one of the first big projects that the U.S. Wound Registry undertook in 2007, performed at the request of KCI (today an Acelity company) to understand the risk of certain adverse events. Ironically, the peer-reviewed journal wouldn’t allow us to name the NPWT device that was the subject of the study, obviating the primary reason for performing a safety study: to publicly report the safety of a specific medical device. That’s when it became clear to me that the wound care industry needed a forum in which we could have transparent conversations about the tools of the trade.

Over the past decade, we as a publication have compared different devices for vascular screening, different technologies for managing edema (even down to which brands of stockings meet which standards), reported on the adverse events and the advantages associated with specific products, and allowed competitors to go ‘toe-to-toe’ to compare their technology (eg, management companies, electronic health records for wound care). We have provided vital information that has helped new and existing wound care programs avoid pitfalls in documentation, compliance auditing, prior authorization, and recoupment programs. We have explained enormous changes in the billing of services such as debridement and cellular products. Lately, we have provided information about the biggest change to physician payment in a generation.

Most readers take it for granted that Today’s Wound Clinic (TWC) produces high-quality and informative articles. HMP Communications and our contributing authors may make the whole process look easy, but it isn’t. Many late-night emails are required to produce the final product that reaches your mailbox and Internet browser. We push authors to meet a high standard, we consider the big implications of the articles, we agonize over the topics that are most relevant, and we frustrate each other with copy edits. However, the final product has useful information for clinicians, hospital administrators, wound care patients, and manufacturers. I still publish peer-reviewed papers, but when people email me to ask practical questions about patient care or wound clinic management, I am far more likely to provide them with a link to TWC rather than a scientific paper. Along the hallway at my office, I’ve framed the first page of the TWC articles that I’m most proud of. I’ve finally run out of room on my wall of ‘favorite articles,’ and that in itself, is something to be proud of.”

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

“It’s hard to believe that what started as just a concept — a wound care journal that managers and clinicians alike could relate to — has reached its 10-year anniversary! As a physician practicing wound care in the outpatient clinic setting, I found myself very intrigued with the idea of a forum that touched on important operational, managerial, and clinical topics in one publication. Today, it’s now apparent how the sharing of information from experts across the healthcare industry can impact a clinical specialty and a business operation at the same time. Personally, I hope that TWC has impacted the operations and job satisfaction of not only our readership but, more importantly, has improved the lives of all of the patients we serve. So many of our terrific board members and authors have contributed to creating a differential outcome in how we treat our patients and manage our businesses in the changing landscape of healthcare as we know it today.

There have been so many great topics published in TWC, ranging from expert clinical insights to how to grow one’s business.  Also, the necessary operationally focused topics such as compliance, ICD-10-CM transitions, and now the move toward fee-for-value have been extremely helpful to our audience as well. I personally would like to thank Dr. Caroline E. Fife and Kathleen Schaum for their unending dedication to keeping TWC current, relevant, and extremely informative to the ‘what’s happening’ in wound care today. I know I look forward to reading their articles every month to improve my practice and knowledge base. And, to all of our past and future authors, board members, and, of course, HMP Communications, thank you for all of your support and for sharing your knowledge with the rest of those who strive to make a difference every day!”

— Christopher A. Morrison, MD, FACHM, FCCWS 

“Time flies by so quickly when we are busy and having fun! That said, it’s hard to believe that 10 years have passed by since the founding editorial board and HMP Communications decided the wound care industry was in need of a practical applications journal for wound care clinics. I was personally thrilled to participate in this new journal because I knew well the challenges of hundreds of wound care professionals who were directed to launch wound care practices in hospital-based outpatient departments, physician offices, or other qualified healthcare professional (QHP) offices, but received no training or orientation to the ‘business side’ of wound care. I also felt bad when wound care professionals contacted me when their claims were denied or when they were audited due to a lack of knowledge about wound care coding, billing, and coverage regulations. 

TWC has provided a venue to disseminate cutting-edge reimbursement information to all wound care professionals in a timely manner. Because HMP has a quick turnaround schedule for each issue, especially now that we are a monthly publication, when new reimbursement information is released I can write the Business Briefs column and the printed journal can be in the readers’ hands a few weeks later. In addition, when I receive numerous questions about the same reimbursement topic, I have the leeway to address the ‘hot’ topic in the next month’s column. In the medical publishing world, that type of rapid response is rare. Therefore, I encourage readers to keep sending me questions they would like to have answered in the Business Briefs column.

I have visited many outpatient wound care departments where staff members showed me their ‘reimbursement binder’ in which they file all their copies of Business Briefs by coding, payment, and coverage categories. They use these articles for purposes such as: 1) opening new wound care businesses; 2) training new employees, new physicians, and other new QHPs; 3) speaking with coders and billers; and 4) working with various payers. 

In fact, I was recently asked to autograph a Business Briefs reimbursement binder that contained every reimbursement article that has been published in TWC! Additionally, many wound care professionals have asked me to extend their thanks to my fellow board member and occasional guest author of Business Briefs, Donna J. Cartwright, MPA, RHIA, CCS, RAC, FAHIMA, for her series of ICD-10-CM Coding Documentation Tips that began in 2013 and was utilized by readers to educate themselves and/or their wound care teams for the launch of ICD-10. I personally value Donna’s coding expertise. In 2017, readers will also get to a know a few other guest authors who will share their reimbursement expertise in Business Briefs. Now that wound care departments and professionals are going to be paid based on value as well as volume, these guest authors and I will certainly not run out of reimbursement topics to share for many years to come. I’ve been working in the medical reimbursement field for nearly 50 years, and no six-month period has been like the six months prior. Because I don’t expect reimbursement changes to slow down any time soon, I feel fortunate to have a venue in which we can provide education and insight into the ever-changing world of reimbursement with our many readers throughout the country.” 

— Kathleen D. Schaum, MS 

“I still remember the day that Jeremy Bowden, senior vice president at HMP Communications, approached me about the concept of a journal for outpatient wound clinics. I’m almost sure we were in Colorado Springs at a Wound Congress meeting. He also said that he wanted me to be the clinical editor, and I recall thinking, ‘What do I know about being an editor?’  The answer was a strong ‘nothing,’ but I agreed anyway. Very soon after that, I requested to have a co-editor, and I knew that I absolutely wanted and needed to have Dr. Caroline Fife, the most prolific author I knew. She (thankfully) agreed, and off we went! Very early on we enlisted the expertise of Kathleen D. Schaum for reimbursement, coding, and coverage information, since there is no one in the field with her expertise and ability to relate that knowledge in straightforward, understandable terms. We set up the journal to have something that would appeal to everyone in the hospital-based outpatient wound clinic, both from the management perspective and the clinician perspective. We began to get emails acknowledging the value that readers found in the immediately usable information we provided. That was an exquisitely rewarding period in my professional life! Sadly, after about seven years (time goes so fast I have forgotten!) I found myself unable to keep up with deadlines. Rather than over-promise and underdeliver, I regretfully stepped down from my post. However, I remain on the emeritus editorial board. I thank our first managing editors, Barbara Zeiger and Jim Calder, and current managing editor, Joe Darrah, for all of their guidance, assistance, and patience over the years. I am so proud to see how much TWC has grown, and will proudly watch it continue to flourish and hopefully have the opportunity to contribute from time to time!”

— Dot Weir, RN, CWON, CWS