Wound Care News

by PolarityTE®

Salt Lake City – April 24, 2019 – PolarityTE®, Inc. (Nasdaq: PTE), a biotechnology company developing and commercializing regenerative tissue products and biomaterials, announced today that new clinical data on the use of its SkinTE™ product will be presented at the Symposium on Advanced Wound Care (SAWC) Spring, Wound Healing Society meeting in San Antonio, TX from May 7 – 11, 2019. In addition, PolarityTE® will host a booth and an interactive event featuring patients treated with SkinTE™ and a presentation from Dr. Gerhard S. Mundinger, MD, Division of Plastic Surgery, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, an early adopter of SkinTE™, on his clinical experience with the product.

By the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel

Washington, DC. – April 18, 2019 – On April 9, 2019, Dr. William Padula, NPUAP Treasurer, and Dr. Janet Luddigan, NPUAP President, provided written testimony to the House Committee on Appropriations; Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies to explore new payment models that could further increase innovation and incentivize the prevention or pressure injuries.

by the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel

Washington, DC – April 12, 2019 – On March 25-27, Dr. William Padula visited Washington, D.C. to advocate for policy solutions surrounding pressure injury prevention at the highest levels of government and health care. His independent advocacy for improving patient safety was provided as a researcher on behalf of NPUAP and its panel members. Dr. Padula is Treasurer on the Board of Directors for NPUAP, as well as an Assistant Professor of Health Economics at the University of Southern California Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics in Los Angeles, along with a secondary appointment at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing in Baltimore.

by Jennifer Hurlow, GNP, CWOCN, and Kara Couch, MS, CRNP, CWCN-AP

Chronic wounds are increasingly recognized as a global public health issue. Recent research revealed that nearly 15% of Medicare beneficiaries (>65 years of age) had at least one type of chronic wound in 2014. In the United States, there are an estimated 6.5 million chronic wounds, including leg ulcers, pressure ulcers, and diabetic foot ulcers, each of which carries a mean annual treatment cost of $11,000, $15,400, and $42,100, respectively, leading to an economic burden of $96.8 billion dollars for the treatment of chronic wounds. Prevalence of chronic wounds is estimated to be growing at a rate of 13% per year, further adding to this current problem. Wound chronicity has been directly related to the presence of wound biofilm. Costerton and colleagues were the first to link biofilm with general infection risk.

by the Wound Healing Foundation

It is with deep sadness that we join the family and announce that Thomas K. Hunt, MD, FACS recently passed away. Dr. Hunt was a pioneer in wounds who impacted wound research and wound treatments.

by the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel

Washington, DC. – March 7, 2019 – On February 15, 2019, the American National Standard Institute (ANSI) approved a revision to the ANSI/RESNA SS-1-2014 standard. The revision includes 4 new test methods to evaluate important performance characteristics of support surfaces, including mattresses, mattress overlays, and integrated bed systems related to the prevention and treatment of pressure injuries. This National standard has been developed by the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (NPUAP) Support Surface Standards Initiate (S3I) and is available through RESNA (https://www.resna.org/standards/support-surfaces/support-surfaces).

Woodbury, CT – February 15, 2019 – The American College of Wound Healing and Tissue Repair (ACWHTR) was founded almost a decade ago, with the sole purpose of helping to promote wound care towards specialty status. The ACWHTR submitted a proposal to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) seeking formal acceptance and approval of this specialty at the highest level of medical education in the US.

Industry News

Following years of Alliance of Wound Care Stakeholder (Alliance) advocacy to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) flagging concerns that the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) coding process chilled innovation and created barriers to coverage and reimbursement for DMEPOS and other new technologies/products in the wound care space, the Alliance of Wound Care Stakeholders is pleased to report that improvements to the process will be put in place in 2019. The Alliance is a founder and key member of the Alliance for HCPCS Coding Reform who has met regularly with CMS and HHS staff to articulate their concerns with the process.

by the Wound Healing Foundation

The Wound Healing Foundation, through the support of Medline Corius Tissue Regeneration, is delighted to announce a new 3-year grant series; WHF-Medline Research Grant Innovation Award. The first of three consecutive $30,000 grant awards for the best scientific and innovative proposal will be awarded May 2019.

by SteadMed Medical

Fort Worth, TX – October 1, 2018 — Urgo Medical North America (formerly SteadMed Medical), announced a new Federal Supply Schedule contract for its VASHE product line. The contract provides the Military Health System broad access to VASHE®, Vashe provides skin-friendly wound care with the highest concentration of pure hypochlorous acid* available on the market today. Vashe® Wound Solution is intended for cleansing, irrigating, moistening, debriding and removal of foreign material including microorganisms and debris from exudating and/or dirty wounds, acute and chronic dermal lesions, such as Stage I-IV pressure ulcers, stasis ulcers, diabetic ulcers, post-surgical wounds, first and second-degree burns, grafted and donor sites; and exit sites. Vashe® Wound Solution passes the USP<51> Antimicrobial Effectiveness Test, and demonstrates rapid effective activity in solution against a broad spectrum of gram-positive, gram-negative, and yeast species with the following in vitro time-kill results.