Wound Center Without Walls: The New Model of Providing Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic poses a major challenge in delivering care to wound patients. Due to multiple comorbidities, wound patients are at an increased risk for the most extreme complications of COVID-19 and providers must focus on reducing their exposure risk. The Federal, State, and local governments, as well as payers, have urged hospitals and providers to reduce utilization of nonessential health services, but they also have given more flexibility to shift the site of necessary care to lower risk environments. Providers must be prepared for disruption from this pandemic mode of health care for the next 18 months, at minimum. The wound provider must accept the new normal during the pandemic by adapting their care to meet the safety needs of the patient and the public. The Wound Center Without Walls is a strategy to untether wound care from a physical location and aggressively triage and provide care to patients with wounds across the spectrum of the health system utilizing technology and community-centered care.

Comparative effectiveness of a human fibroblast-derived dermal substitute and a viable cryopreserved placental membrane for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers.

Objective: To compare a human fibroblast-derived dermal substitute (HFDS) to a viable cryopreserved placental membrane (vCPM) for use in diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs). Methods: An electronic medical record database of 1622 refractory DFUs with areas 1-40 cm2 was analyzed. Results: Cox estimates of wound closure for HFDS (1444 wounds) were significantly greater (p = 0.0002) by weeks 12 (31 vs 21%), 24 (55 vs 39%) and 36 (68 vs 51%) compared with vCPM (178 wounds). HFDS reduced the median time to wound closure by 55% compared with vCPM, (20 vs 36 weeks, p = 0.0002). HFDS also increased the probability of wound closure by 60% (hazard ratio = 1.60 [95% confidence interval, (1.25, 2.06)], p = 0.0002). Conclusion: HFDS improved time and frequency of wound closure in DFUs versus vCPM.

Credentialing guidelines for doctors of podiatric medicine supervising hyperbaric oxygen therapy a position paper.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is a useful tool for many conditions within the scope of practice of a Doctor of Podiatric Medicine (DPM). More wound-care clinics are adding HBOT as a service line. The increasing prevalence of DPMs operating inside of these wound-care clinics has raised questions about the licensure and privileging of DPMs to supervise HBOT. This document reviews the safety of outpatient HBOT and provides guidelines for hospitals to credential DPMs to supervise treatments.