Editor’s Message: On Demand: Bridging the Gap
May 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment
TWC has great potential for expanding and reaching new readers via the Internet while still providing our valued product in print. We don’t believe that the digital edition will replace the print issue. In fact, we suggest that you subscribe to both in order to have our content available on demand, anytime and anywhere you want it.
Our IT team has partnered with Nxtbook Media to give our paying subscribers the added bonus of receiving a digital edition when they subscribe to the print journal. Readers also will have the option of subscribing to the digital edition alone at a discounted rate.
The staff at HMP, invites everyone to a free preview of TWC’s digital edition of the Winter 2008 issue at: http://digital.todayswoundclinic.com/nxtbooks/hmp/twc_2008winter/
Survey Says
TWC is your source for the latest information on wound care clinic operations. Through our Exit Polls, we are actively collecting information on the industry in four separate survey categories. We will analyze this information and with our readers help, we will define the industry. Your participation in these surveys is essential for creating knowledge and standards of practice in management across the wound care industry. All responses are completely confidential and for research purposes only. The Spring survey will cover staff responsibilities. A link to participate in both the Winter and Spring online survey can be found on the home page of TodaysWoundClinic.com, under Exit Polls. Thank you in advance for your participation.
In late April, TWC staff will be attending SAWC (www.sawc.net) in San Diego, Calif. I look forward to meeting many of you for the first time and the opportunity to discuss your needs and goals for the journal and what topics you would like to see covered. Your feedback on the journal is not only wanted and needed but is crucial for the success of the publication. Please email me anytime to share your thoughts.
Sincerely,
Managing Editor
jcalder@hmpcommunications.com
For a preview of this note in TWC’s digital edition, visit
Editor’s Message
Documenting Your Success
May 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment
There is an ancient Chinese proverb which says, the palest ink is better than the best memory. This issue is about medical documentation. These days, documentation may or may not be done with ink, but there is no question about the importance of providing a record of the care we have provided. The issue of documentation is enormously complex. The topic includes not only how information is to be collected (with paper, electronically or even some mixture of the two), but also how information will be used.
To begin, we will take a 30,000-foot view of documentation, that includes general principles—which must be observed, and the rules that govern physician and facility documentation. Do you know where your medical records are? The answer can be more complex than one might think. In a modern clinic, the medical record, rather than being a collection of paper, might consist of many different types of data that are, stored in several ways. For example, how are the digital photos identified as part of the legal chart?
In fact, wound photography can become an important legal discussion. Val Sullivan will discuss what types of equipment work best for documentation and the litigation process, with nurse legal consultant Mary Bruno.
With regard to data, how do data get into the medical chart? Do you have an audit system to ensure the quality of the data in your charts? Moira Hayes will discuss documentation compliance programs, which are critical to having a successful clinic.
Have you thought about transitioning to an electronic medical record system? We will take a close look at three options for documentation. Dot will discuss how she uses NetHealth’s WoundExpert System, (Pittsburgh, Pa), Caroline will discuss how she uses Intellicure’s Electronic Medical Record, The Woodlands, Texas, and N. Blair Hughes, MHS, PT, CWS will review the option provided by Wound Care Strategies, Inc., Harrisburg, Pa.
In our InBusiness section, Kathy Schaum will discuss how Medicare contractors include documentation guidelines in their Local Coverage Determinations and Articles, using examples from actual wound care related LCDs and Articles.
Would you like to sound like an expert? You will after you read Heidi Mueller’s InFluence section. She will tell what (and when) to copy to your referring physicians, and what to include in progress reports.
You are sure to enjoy our featured wound care center, the O’Connor Wound Care Clinic, and the Q&A with Medical Director Peter Schubart, MD, PhD.
Lastly, don’t miss a preview of our next online survey in Exit Polls. Our
Medical documentation will determine the success of your facility. No topic may be more important to Today’s Wound Clinic. We think this is our best issue yet, and we hope you agree.
Caroline Fife, MD, FAAFP, CWS and Dot Weir, RN, CWON, CWS
For a free preview of this complete article in the TWC digital edition visit:
Introduction
A Brand New World
March 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Welcome to the first 2008 issue of Today’s Wound Clinic. Hopefully, you found the two 2007 issues relevant and meaningful and are ready to embark on a new year of sharing clinical and practical information.
The four quarterly issues of TWC this year focus on topics that present multifaceted, clinical, reimbursement, and management challenges. Chris Morrison will introduce a new online feature “Exit Polls” that comprises a quarterly survey — results to be published in subsequent issues with a culminating detailed analysis available in an article or supplement at the end of the year. These results also will be available online to subscribers.
The current issue highlights the patient with lower extremity edema, both venous and lymphatic (ie, lymphedema). Our cover story by Susan Gallagher Camden and Tere Sigler examines the unique clinical challenges related to obesity and lymphedema, compares lymphedema and lipedema, and offers suggestions for safe handling of the obese patient in the clinic setting. Commentary on the state of the art management of venous stasis ulcers, a historical perspective, usual healing rates, and what might be going on with the “non-healers” also is provided. In the InBusiness section, Kathleen Schaum discusses the disparity among Medicare contractors regarding the appropriate CPT® code for the application of multilayered, sustainted, graduated high compression systems. After researching all the available Medicare LCDs and Articles regarding the disparate coverage for these compression systems, she shares her research via a comprehensive table. InStruction offers information from Val Sullivan and Dot Weir on different categories of and how to handle some of the pitfalls of compression. InTech presents Teresa Conner-Kerr’s examination of the role of compression pumps. InCentive spotlights The Memorial Hermann Wound and Lymphedema Center and its upcoming 20th anniversary.
Today’s Wound Clinic has gained tremendous momentum by presenting important and timely topics related to our very specialized practice. We hope you enjoy this issue. Share it with your colleagues, make it a topic of discussion at your staff meetings, and send us feedback. Let us help you improve your wound care practice.
Dot Weir, RN, CWON, CWS
Caroline Fife, MD, CWS
For a preview of this article in TWC’s digital edition, visit
Editor’s Note
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CUTTING THROUGH THE CONFUSION
October 31, 2007 | Leave a Comment
The TWC Editorial Board labored over how to address the important, controversial, and confusing topic of debridement. An integral part of the day-to-day care provided in hospital-owned outpatient wound care departments (HOPDs), debridement removes devitalized tissue from a wound that otherwise would be slower to heal, at higher risk for infection, and not receptive to more advanced topical treatments such as wound matrix technology, negative pressure wound therapy, growth factors, and bioengineered tissues.
