We have seen a commendable transformation in wound care services all around the world. Exceptional wound management strategies have helped many healthcare facilities provide the best services to their patients. Not only do these strategies improve their revenue cycle but they also make a healthcare facility more competitive in the market.
Chronic wounds are unlike typical injuries. They show less tendency to heal even after 1-6 months of treatment. Billions of dollars are spent on wound care each year. This value of exceptional wound care is expected to increase with the aging human population in the future.
With the advent of technology, scientists and clinicians are noticing a huge increase in wound care products. Multiple treatment products for wounds have made it very confusing for the patients and facilities alike, and they often end-up choosing the wrong treatment.
Wound Care during the COVID-19 pandemic
COVID-19 has changed the way businesses, hospitals and wound care facilities are run around the world. This pandemic has had a huge impact on the medical system of the United States. Even surgeons recommend canceling or delaying the non-essential medical surgeries and treatment to avoid the spread of the virus. The exposure of the virus is not only a threat to mankind but to the businesses as well.
The wound care centers were largely impacted by the pandemic as they are often located inside the hospitals. Generally, many hospitals in the United States closed their wound care centers to avoid the transmission of the deadly virus.
The future of wound care facilities is marching along a path of new initiatives. There are several factors that can change the future for wound care facilities including coverage policies, payers, and consolidated insurances.
Moreover, the wound care facilities themselves need to change. They need to adapt to the new changes so that they can conduct their business while following all the SOPs.
Future Wound Care model
The traditional business model that all the wound care facilities adhered to in the past: the fee-for-service model will soon be replaced by diagnosis-related Payment Classifications and bundled payments-based revenue streams.
This will change the whole outline of the wound care management policy. The staff as well as the physicians will focus more on implementing episodic care mechanisms. They would rely less on RVU (Relative Value Unit) procedural medicine and more on value of care treatments.
Once the value-based payment model is implemented, there’s a high chance that the hospital officials and physicians will come to partner for mutual financial benefit, which aligns with better patient care initiatives.
However, there are some building blocks to lay the foundation of a successful wound care clinic in the near future.
A collaborative and integrated approach for successful wound care clinics in the future
The patients who require special care or have complex medical histories need special means to address the underlying health issues that might impact the wound care treatment. To end this problem, all the wound care clinics need to have a collaborative and integrated care approach. The main challenge for the hospitals will be to build a one-stop wound care model instead of a typical dissipated wound care center. This model will not only reduce the cost but also the time to manage the individuals needing special wound care.
Wound care providers will be in dire need of trained clinical staff to implement smart wound management techniques and strategies. Each wound care provider will not be just a board-certified in the primary specialty but, perhaps, board-certified in wound care management as a discipline in and of itself.
Moreover, he will need to know everything about RVU/APC generation so that he can be more business-oriented while planning for each individual’s treatment.
Many wound/injury patients suffer edema. Edema in patients has the potential to cause chronic inflammation and soft tissue damage. Other than that, some patients suffer from skin impairments due to edema.
Hence, they need top-quality wound care experts who understand the connection between the wounds and the integumentary systems. Simply put, all the wound care centers in the United States will require a lymphedema expert in their staff to assist patients.
Wound Care Management in a nutshell
Wound care management is the application of direct and indirect methods to provide an appropriate environment for healing.
To secure the future of wound care centers, the wound care providers must perform advanced wound care management strategies while creating a treatment plan for each patient for effective results. The revenue cycle will continue to improve once they learn how to manage the wound care cost within the context of value-based care initiatives.