Cath Lab Digest

From conception to recognition as centers of excellence, wound care clinics must make education a priority. Management companies understand the importance of a knowledgeable team and have spent years refining and perfecting the education process. Not all managed companies are alike — hospital and wound clinic decision makers must understand what type of knowledge and support will be provided by the management company before partnering with them. Ultimately, the hospital should seek an accredited, comprehensive approach to education that includes all staff involved in the care and support of a wound center patient. The instruction provided should address key areas of clinic operation: wound care and hyperbaric medicine, clinical practice guidelines, advanced wound management, program operations, clinical coordination, safety, database outcomes management, quality improvement and accountability, reimbursement, patient education, marketing, and community education. The following article details what a hospital should expect from a management company in terms of education support of its wound clinic.

Commitment to education. A hospital should be diligent in exploring the management company’s educational resources and commitment to education and ask the following questions:

• Does the management company have a formal infrastructure and department that coordinates all education processes?
• Are the educational offerings comprehensive?
• Is the management company a leader in wound care and hyperbaric education?
• Are processes in place to ensure ongoing education throughout the growing needs of the specialty center and changes in the wound care industry?
• Most of all, does the management company meet our clinic’s educational goals and culture?

Accreditation. A hospital should choose a management company that provides training that is in line with national standards and adheres to requirements necessary to maintain professional accreditation. These accreditations may be provided by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (AACME) as a provider for Category 1 AMA credit hours for continuing medical education for physicians and CEU offerings for non-physicians. The authors’ management company has the longest continually running wound care training course for physicians in the US. This course is held monthly at The Woodlands, Texas and provides 53 credit hours in Category 1 of the Physician’s Recognition Award of the AMA, prescribed credit hours from the American Academy of Family Practice, 53 Nursing CEUs by the State of Florida Board of Registered Nursing, and 53 Category A credit hours by the National Board of Diving and Hyperbaric Medical Technology. This course is open to the public; clinicians do not have to be associated with the management company to attend. A hospital also should consider partnering with a management company that supports pursuit of recognition as a center of excellence. Such accreditation can be secured through the Undersea and Hyperbaric Society or JCAHO Disease Specific Care certification.

Association affiliation. A management company’s education program should include national standards as well as knowledge gained within their own centers. The content of that education should be based on recommendations from national and international professional societies and published guidelines. Management companies should strive to develop effective communications and support for participation in professional societies, including membership. Recognized national associations include the American Academy of Wound Management (AAWM), the Association for the Advancement of Wound Care (AAWC), the Wound Healing Society (WHC), the Wound Ostomy and Continence Nursing Society (WOCN), the Undersea Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS), Baromedical Nurses Association (BNA), the National Board of Diving and Hyperbaric Medical Technology (NBDHMT), and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

Faculty. Educators should be leaders in the industry. They should be credentialed and certified, sit on national committees, and play an active role in relevant national organizations. Ideally, these individuals are published and regularly speak at national wound care and hyperbaric medicine meetings.
Wound clinic education. A management company should meet the varying education needs of the wound clinic. Introductory, advanced, and ongoing education is needed for the entire team. Management companies provide instruction and training through offsite education courses, mentor site training, onsite education, web-based conferences, and online courses.
Training schedule. Ideally physicians, nurses, and HBO technicians will attend offsite training courses and visit a mentor center within a couple months of center opening. For an established center, newly hired staff are sent to offsite training at the first available opening. The management company should be onsite for staff training during the opening phase as well as when needs are identified.

Clinical practice guidelines. Management companies provide clinicians with evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for wound care and hyperbaric medicine that include conventional and innovative approaches to care utilizing leading edge wound healing technologies. These guidelines should be comprehensive and continually updated based on the latest wound care and hyperbaric medicine literature, along with knowledge gained from the synthesis and analysis of clinical practice and outcomes within the managed company centers.