I just read this incredible post by Michael Lynch, the CEO of Trinity Pharmaco-Solutions. While I have reservations that earlier use of a cellular product will be THE answer (given that nearly one third of the chronic wounds and ulcers are the “wounds with no name” that are actually symptoms of their underlying medical illnesses), I agree with everything he said! I love his examples!
Here’s the risk of not fixing the problem we have with “fantasy” healing rates:
- We can’t tell if a technology actually improves outcome if we say everyone’s outcome is already darn near perfect.
- We are lured into thinking that wounds can be cared for in an “episodic” model when, in many patients, wounds are actually a chronic illness.
- We can’t calculate the cost associated with outcome if we are not honest about the outcome.
- When we don’t know the real outcome and can’t calculate the cost, we can’t decide what we ought to spend money on… or how much we can spend.
You could report honest healing rates for diabetic foot ulcers and venous leg ulcers through the US Wound Registry, and in 2019, you could report a new quality measure to report pressure ulcer healing, all stratified by the Wound Healing Index.
Otherwise, there’s lies, damn lies and healing rates. That’s our dirty little industry secret, Michael.
Dr. Fife is a world renowned wound care physician dedicated to improving patient outcomes through quality driven care. Please visit my blog at CarolineFifeMD.com and my Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/carolinefifemd/videos
