White Papers

What's the relationship between coding and reimbursement? How are wound care products, services and technologies assigned codes, such as HCPCS (Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System)? What does this process entail?

Patients with darker skin tones are more likely to develop full-thickness pressure injuries (PIs), at least partly because of difficulties in detecting wounds early.

Successful healing of chronic wounds begins with accurate identification of the etiology because management varies by wound type.

Hospital stays are becoming shorter and shorter, but patient acuity levels are higher and higher. Combine that with existing nursing shortages, and it is easy to understand the increased risks of surgical site complications.

Venous leg ulcers (VLUs) are common lower extremity wounds that are challenging to treat and that negatively affect patients' quality of life.

Maintaining optimal wound bed conditions requires inflammation control and infection prevention. This includes preventing the formation of biofilms, which can delay healing.

For the last decade or so, the best practice approach to wound care has been based on the TIME (tissue, inflammation or infection, moisture, and edge) framework.

An evidence-based approach to a successful skin care regimen must be built on a thorough understanding of skin anatomy and physiology.

Skin changes at life’s end (SCALE) reflect failure of the largest organ in the body—the skin. In a patient with SCALE, management goals are to provide comfort, relieve pain, and optimize wound care.

This guide provides an overview of interventions to bring wound healing back on track.

Inappropriate or unnecessary antibiotic use contributes to the global problem of antimicrobial resistance.

This useful guide to the treatment of complex, chronic wounds first discusses risk factors that predispose patients to the development of these wounds, as well as comorbidities and other conditions that complicate healing.

With a growing population of Americans aged 65 or older, it is important to know which skin changes are normal and which are abnormal in aging skin and what to do in terms of treatment, education, and prevention of skin tears and other skin injuri

Wound documentation methods such as digital measuring tools, mobile tools, and customized electronic medical records can save time and enhance the quality of care.

Wound care professionals whose patients have hard-to-heal wounds work to prevent or treat biofilm formation and infection, for optimal clinical outcomes.

This white paper describes how to build an effective pressure injury prevention program, from skin and risk assessments to care planning and finally program implementation.

Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) are major causes of mortality and morbidity and impose a significant burden on patients, health care professionals, and health care systems.

Lower extremity ulcers, whether venous, arterial, or diabetic ulcers, impose a heavy burden on patients and the health care system.

Among the many challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic is the need for safe and successful wound care at a time when physical distancing is mandated or recommended to contain the spread of coronavirus.

Debridement is the foundational component of wound bed preparation.

Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is a common complication of diabetes, with a high lifetime global incidence.

When healing is disrupted or delayed, a chronic non-healing wound can develop, with a significant impact on quality of life and a high financial cost.

Venous insufficiency results from venous hypertension, which, left untreated, can lead to skin breakdown and the formation of venous leg ulcers (VLUs).

Meticulous documentation of wound care, from initial assessment to ongoing treatment to wound healing progress, is an essential component of the standard of care in patients with wounds.

Wound infections are common complications of healing, and wound care professionals strive to prevent, identify, and manage these infections.

Pressure injuries are complex and costly to treat, and they have a serious impact on patients’ quality of life. Health care professionals must be accurate and thorough in identifying and managing patients at risk.

In skilled nursing facilities, the top targets for litigation are pressure ulcers, malnutrition, and dehydration. Up to 20% of all U.S.

As a planned injury occurring in a controlled and sterile environment, a surgical wound often occurs under ideal conditions.

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) are multifactorial in origin and challenging to manage. Thorough assessment of a patient with a DFU is essential to developing a comprehensive plan of care.

Complex wounds place a heavy burden on the health care system, in terms of both financial cost and patients’ quality of life.

Wound bed preparation is essential to patient-centered wound care. Early, appropriate, and aggressive interventions, including the TIME model of wound bed preparation, help facilitate the wound healing trajectory and avoid wound chronicity.

The differential diagnosis of lymphedema includes both primary and secondary lymphedema, as well as lipedema.

Identifying wound tissue types is imperative for effective care of patients with chronic wounds. As wound care professionals know, treatment goals vary by wound tissue type and composition.

When developing and implementing a wound care plan, health care professionals must look beyond predicted outcomes and the general processes of wound assessment, identification, and classification.

Understanding the risk factors and causes of skin breakdown in vulnerable patients enables health care professionals to develop individualized wound prevention protocols.

Venous leg ulcers (VLUs) have a high prevalence and a steep cost, both financially and in terms of patients’ quality of life. Wound care professionals will find this guide a helpful resource on VLUs.

Clinicians aim for the perfect healing cascade to wound closure. However, inconsistencies in the wound healing continuum impair healing as a result of significant factors such as biofilm formation and infection.

Pressure injuries and ulcers take a heavy toll on patients and the health care system. These chronic wounds have a negative impact on patients’ quality of life, and the financial costs to both patients and institutions are high.

Post-operative failure of the surgical wound to heal is the most common major complication related to surgical wound management.

Twenty-five percent of persons with diabetes mellitus in the United States will develop diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs), which increase the risk of amputation and mortality.

Effective wound bed preparation is a cornerstone of modern wound care by helping to promote rapid healing and minimize the risk of complications such as infection.

Debridement is a valuable tool used in wound care to remove dead, necrotic, or foreign material from a wound and to help transform a chronic wound into an acute wound to expedite healing.

Chronic wounds become stagnant through the normal phases of wound healing and often enter a vicious cycle including numerous comorbidities, mixed etiologies, and intrinsic and extrinsic factors.

This useful guide reviews specific evidence-based practices for the use of topical antibiotics and the clinical effectiveness of these agents in the treatment of infected wounds.

Moisture-associated skin damage (MASD) is a condition of inflammation and erosion of the skin caused by prolonged exposure to various sources of moisture, including urine or stool, perspiration, wound exudate, ostomy effluent, mucus, and saliva.

A biofilm is an adherent stratum composed of exopolymers and microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, yeasts, algae, microbes, protozoa, and other cellular debris.

Pressure injuries (ulcers) are a major burden on our patients, families, caregivers, and the health care system.

Understanding and having quick-access to Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) codes for the reporting of the supplies, products and equipment used in wound care is an essential aspect of receiving payment for the services performed by

Making wound treatment choices on the basis of the color or exudate of the wound bed is easy but may not reflect the complexity we see in the multiple presentations encountered in the chronic wound bed.

Pressure ulcers present health care providers with a myriad of factors to consider in the assessment, treatment and dressing selection to attain a path to wound healing.

Skin grafts and flaps are an effective and common surgical procedure used in the treatment of certain wound types, including pressure ulcers.

Pressure ulcers are a significant problem across the continuum of health care settings.

Whether you're new to wound care or have practiced in the different team types yourself, this article provides a concise overview of the current functional team models found in today's wound care practices.

Palliative wound care is a relatively new field that focuses on the wound treatment of individuals at the end of life, those with terminal disease or those unable to tolerate standard care.

Like many aspects of wound care, wound device product selection has become an increasingly complex and sophisticated process over the past several decades.

Today's wound care clinicians are confronted with hundreds of products, scientific rationale for moist interactive wound dressings and an emerging evidence-base for wound dressing product selection.