Real-World Data for Optimized Patient Protocols

Real-world data on treatment regimens, wound care products, and patient adherence—and their impact on wound healing—are of great interest and importance to clinicians. While clinical data demonstrate the wound closure results that can be achieved in an optimized setting with proper protocol adherence and wound management, real-world data provide a look at the results that can be expected as patients go about their day-to-day lives outside of the controlled environment of a clinical study.

In an effort to collect real-world data on pressure injury prevention, a longitudinal, retrospective analysis was conducted on data from the Value Analysis Team at a 280-bed regional community hospital. The incidence rate of hospital-acquired pressure injury (HAPI) was recorded between January 2012 and March 2024, during which time 3 different “soft silicone multi-layered foam dressings” were used alongside a repositioning reminder system (RRS) at various times, according to the poster’s authors. Average HAPI incidence rate was analyzed on both a monthly and annual basis.

On average, Dressing 1 saw a rate of 10.4 HAPI each year, with Dressing 2 and Dressing 3 resulting in 5.56 HAPI and 26.29 HAPI per year, respectively. On a financial basis, HAPI lead to $21 784 more in treatment costs per patient compared to patients who do not develop pressure injuries as inpatients.¹ When factoring in that figure with the comparative HAPI incidence rates between patients treated with Dressing 2 and Dressing 3, the poster authors report that Dressing 2 resulted in treatment savings of roughly $451 000.

Improvements were also seen as a result of the RRS. An average of 3.42 HAPI were reported each month in the 12 months before RRS implementation; in the 12 months after, the average dropped to 1.08 HAPI per month. A combined analysis looking at dressing selection and RRS use showed that when the RRS was used with Dressing 2, the incidence rate was 1.25 HAPI per month on average.

The authors concluded that this analysis demonstrates the impact real-world data can have when it comes to identifying optimal protocols for patient care.

-Wounds editorial staff

Poster reference: Constable S, Spitzer M. Real-world data to support continuous quality improvement in pressure injury prevention. Poster presented at Symposium on Advanced Wound Care Fall; October 2-5, 2024; Las Vegas, NV.

References cited:

1. Wassel C, Delhougne, G, Gayle, J, Dreyfus, J, Larson, B. Risk of readmissions, mortality, and hospital-acquired conditions across hospital-acquired pressure injury (HAPI) stages in a US National Hospital Discharge database. Int Wound J. 2020;17(6):1924-1934.