TWC News Update

New Wound Care Assessment /Documentation/Measurement Tool

  KISS Healthcare, Inc. (Chino Hills, Calif) launched the KISS Wound Label—a patented wound assessment, documentation, and measurement tool. The new tool utilizes standardization and geometric shapes (rings, ellipses, and bars) to visually scale a wound when using photography for documentation in the medical record. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid website (www.cms.hhs.gov/HospitalAcqCond/) for discharges occurring on or after October 1, 2008, hospitals will not receive additional payment for cases in which Stage III and Stage IV wounds are documented in the medical record and coded, where there is no evidence that these wounds were not present on admission.

  The KISS Healthcare tool claims to be a low cost solution to the inherent problems of wound photography and documentation. The tool seeks agreement to resolve the issues of where and how to document the proper approximate size and location of wounds. The company says it provides a documentation process that is easy to use, standardized, and ensures proper hand-off communication of wounds by specifying the wound by ring color.

  For more information visit Kisshealthcare.com or call (909) 632-1361.

Today’s Wound Clinic Releases Newest Exit Poll

  TWC enters its third Exit Poll of 2008, which focuses on Clinic Volume and Revenue. Results collected from four surveys in 2008, will be published in an issue of the journal in 2009. However, TWC cannot gather this information without you, the professionals. Please participate in these quick and simple surveys to ensure the final results accurately reflect the community. Today’s Wound Clinic realizes that you are extremely busy individuals and appreciates that your time is very valuable. All personal information collected will remain confidential and be used for research purposes only. As an incentive for more audience participation, TWC is offering the following opportunities from raffle drawings:

  Four Chances to Win: TWC is offering a few incentives for your participation. For each survey you complete you will be entered into a raffle for the chance to win one autographed copy of the latest edition of Chronic Wound Care.

  Grand Prize: In addition, Today’s Wound Clinic will be offering the opportunity to win a grand prize, which all readers that complete all four 2008 surveys will enter. The raffle winner of the grand prize will be awarded the following:
    • Two paid admissions to any Wound Care Seminar (formerly "The Buck Stops Here") of your choice in 2009.
    • One paid admission to the Symposium on Advanced Wound Care (SAWC) in 2009.
    • A featured article on your wound care facility featured in Today’s Wound Clinic in 2009.

  All four surveys will remain open throughout the rest of the year. TWC ask that all readers please visit www.todayswoundclinic.com/2008/05/salary-survey-exit-poll/ to participate.

Infection Registry to Review Current Treatment Patterns and Identify Potential Gaps

  Ortho-McNeil (Raritan, NJ), a division of Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. sponsored the nation’s first, prospective registry of complicated skin and soft tissue infections (cSSTIs), known as SSTIR (the Skin and Soft Tissue Infection Hospital Registry), which is enrolling patients. The SSTIR, plans to enroll more than 1,200 hospitalized patients by the end of this year, and is designed to better understand treatment patterns and provide data to help improve patient outcomes.

  More than 50 hospitals nationwide are expected to participate in this prospective, multi-center registry, which will comprehensively characterize the four major types of cSSTIs: diabetic foot infections, surgical site infections, deep soft tissue abscesses, and cellulitis (an infection of tissue under the skin). In addition, the study will observe patient management in the hospital setting, including selection and timing of antibiotic treatment, changes in treatment regimen, outcomes, and economic impact.

   “Physicians are treating more and more patients with complicated skin infections in hospitals across the United States, and the emergence of resistant pathogens has made the situation even more complex,” said Susan Nicholson, M.D., Therapeutic Area Leader, Internal Medicine, Ortho-McNeil, division of Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. “This data will give physicians insight into how to manage these difficult-to-treat infections and understand current treatment patterns in order to provide consensus on how best to care for patients.”

  For more information on the SSTIR, including a listing of enrolling sites, call Myoung S. Kim, PhD., director, Outcomes Research, (908) 218-6419.