Inside Success: The Archbold Center For Wound Management

  In 1999 Tere Sigler, PT, CWS, CLT-LANA, established the Archbold Center for Wound Management at Archbold Memorial Hospital in Thomasville, Georgia and is still the clinical director. This last year the center has expanded to include Hyperbaric Medicine.

  Tere has worked as a Physical Therapist for 25 years in a range of settings including acute care, outpatient, long-term care and home health. She has been focused on wound care since 1991. Tere is an active member of APTA and AAWC. She earned her CWS through AAWM in 2000. She has served on advisory boards and participated in focus groups for several companies in the wound care industry.

  Tere also began practicing lymphedema management in 1996 after completing training in Manual Lymph Drainage through the Vodder School in Walschee, Austria. In 2002 she passed the Board Exam to become Certified as a Lymphedema Therapist through the Lymphology Association of North America.

  Today’s Wound Clinic interviewed Tere Sigler to discuss the Archbold Center for Wound Management and Hyperbaric Medicine.

  Today’s Wound Clinic (TWC): What is the name of your clinic, and city and town it is located in?
  Tere Sigler (TS): Archbold Center for Wound Management and Hyperbaric Medicine in Thomasville, Georgia.

  TWC: Please describe characteristics of your facility?
  TS: Archbold is in a 3500 sq ft building with eight exam rooms and two monoplace hyperbaric chambers. The clinic is open 5 days per week and we provide 7 day a week coverage to the hospitalized patients. We admit about 475 patients a year to the clinic and average 25 visits a day. In addition, we carry an average inpatient caseload of 15.

  TWC: Can you describe the positions of employees that work in your clinic and the important or key rolls?
  TS: Our Medical Director is a general and vascular surgeon and is a CWS. We have a full time PA who is also a CWS. The clinic staff is made up of RN’s, PT’s and we have one RT. One RN is dedicated to the hospital and 1 PT serves as liaison to our affiliate hospitals and nursing homes. Two PT’s handle both wound care and lymphedema and two RN’s work in both wound care and hyperbarics. The RT is a CHT and is the hyperbaric medicine safety officer. We also have three clinical and three administrative support staff.

  TWC: Approximately how many patients do you see per year?
  TS: About 500 patients.

  TWC: Is your center independently managed or overseen by a management company?
  TS: We have always been independently managed.

  TWC: How long has the clinic been in operation?
  TS: 10 years this October.

  TWC: What is your position in the clinic, and how long have you held that position?
  TS: I have been with the medical center for almost 15 years and have been the Department Director since the wound center was created.

  TWC: What were the wound care clinic’s initial challenges from the start?
  TS: Keeping up with the demand. When we opened the clinic we were inundated with referrals. We started with four exam rooms and three FTE’s and had to move into a larger building 8 months later and had 6.5 FTE’s by the end of the first year.

  TWC: What efforts have proven successful for your clinic in the area of marketing and advertising?
  TS: We are the only healthcare facility in a rural setting and most of our marketing has been word-of-mouth. We receive referrals from more than 100 sources annually and treat patients from more than 50 zip codes.

  TWC: What efforts are you hoping to include in the future in the areas of marketing and advertising?
  TS: We added hyperbaric medicine 2 years ago and have found that the physician community is somewhat unfamiliar with this therapy. We are planning formal lectures to the medical community as well as informal meetings.

  TWC: Do you have a website for your clinic? What role does the site play for your business?
  TS: We do not have a web site for the wound clinic. The medical center has a web site (www.archbold.org) and we hope to add our own page to it next year.

  TWC: How is your clinic incorporating technology into your center’s workflow?
  TS: We have had an EMR in the clinic since 2005. We also regularly utilize telemedicine to enhance our support to our four-affiliate hospitals and four nursing homes.

  TWC: What do you feel are some of the largest operational challenges for a wound care clinic today, and do you have any advice for others.   TS: Keeping up with reimbursement and regulations has become our biggest challenge. Since we are a multi-disciplinary center we have to stay abreast of several reimbursement structures. My only advice is to remember that this is an ever-changing landscape and to stay informed.

  TWC: Is there anything that you believe sets your facility apart from other wound care clinics?
  TS: We are the hub for wound care for our entire medical center, which includes five hospitals, four nursing homes and two home health agencies covering five counties. This gives an incredible opportunity for continuity of care.

  TWC: Do you have additional advice for clinic directors who are looking to improve their facility?
  TS: Focus on the staff. Seven of our staff have specialty certifications in wounds, lymphedema, and/or hyperbaric medicine. Four more are sitting for certification exams this fall. Aside from their clinical knowledge, the staff are all passionate about helping people. That is what drives them to do their best for the patients on a daily basis.

  TWC: What is the favorite part of your position?
  TS: Seeing my staff get excited over both the big and little victories.