Today's Wound Clinic - Spring 2008 - (Page 27)

intech will generate a prescription with the accompanying codes required, which simply only then needs to be signed. For the clinic documentation, the system asks for all of the information needed to complete not only a comprehensive wound evaluation, but also all of the necessary components of a patient evaluation, with the critical information needed for compliance and achievement of the national patient safety goals, including patient identification, appropriate hand-off communication, medication safety including continuous reconciliation and recognition of potential allergy issues, duplications, and sound-alike/look-alike medications.Additionally, the system queries the clinic on any changes in fall potential as well as providing three opportunities to document current pain level, changes in pain levels, as well as preand post-procedural pain. Many centers have successfully completed Joint Commission surveys with all appropriate documentation parameters present. Reports. The potential reports generated by the system are as numerous as the points of data collection.Through the use of the Dynamic Report Builder, the user is able to custom design reports to meet any number of needs. Additionally, there are very specific reports set up related to commonly tracked procedures such as Negative Pressure Wound Therapy, debridement, multiple reports related to hyperbaric oxygen, and the list is endless. Of particular value is the ability for a center to benchmark healing outcomes with the data from the other more than 250 centers across the US, which the center uses as an ongoing performance improvement report. In the most recent version of WoundExpert, a new feature called The Program Directors Dashboard is available. The Dashboard allows a clinic director to have real time tracking of desired facility specific information related to performance, referral sources, payer mix, volumes, and any number of details without the need to build these reports individually. Patient and Referral Source Satisfaction. Chronic wounds can be a limb-or-life threatening process, which brings about frustration from providers and fear and alterations in quality of life for patients. Of great reassurance is to see visual proof of wound improvement, which added to decreases in actual wound surface area and volume, gives hope in the face of previous despair. One such tool in WoundExpert is the Wound Analysis, patients can view on the computer screen, but also can them to take to their primary or other consulting physicians, as well as to show to concerned family members who are unable to accompany the patient on clinic visits.The last tool, which is very effective from a reporting as well as a marketing perspective is the ability to develop a personalized template from the center to the patients referring and/or primary care physician to provide either a progress letter or closure letter at the time of complete healing. Space does not allow full expansion of what a truly excellent EMR/data system can provide for a busy clinic. There are not dollar values that can be placed on it, but the details provided, which allow one to constantly evaluate care provided for patients is priceless. Dot Weir, RN, CWON, CWS, is coeditor of Today’s Wound Clinic and the Clinical Director of The Wound Healing Center at Osceola Regional Medical Center in Kissimmee, Florida. Weir can be reached for questions by calling (407) 518-3565 or through her email address: dorothy.weir@hcahealthcare.com. Department Evolution It’s Not Just About a Software; it’s About Your Process N. Blair Hughes, MHS, PT, CWS THE TRANSITION PROCESS In the year 2000, a decision was made to transition this author’s existing wound care patient population from the outpatient PT Department at Frederick Memorial Hospital, to a dedicated, hospital-owned, outpatient wound care department.The wound care team managed to arrange four treatment rooms and about 1,500-square-feet of space, and recruited participating physicians from a broad spectrum of specialists. The facility felt that with its design and concept of providing one-stop shopping to meet all of the wound care needs, it needed to focus on processes that would allow it to be coherent and remain patient focused with thorough communication. It was apparent that a paper chart is cumbersome. Valuable information is lost in the volumes of pages—only attorneys take the time to read the full medical chart. The center needed to go electronic and needed to start that way or risk having difficulty convincing the staff (clinicians and physicians) to transition later. THE EMR SEARCH The search for the right EMR system for the facility began. Thorough research and tough standards were paramount in the decision-making process. The EMR ultimately selected would have to meet unique requirements—one that would meet the needs of patients, staff, and stakeholders. Any successful program must be based on the particular department’s process. Process is crucial, and pulls documentation, patient care, and payment together.Any lack of coordination would result in an exercise in futility. Patient care outcomes, staff satisfaction, and financial viability would suffer. The search for a comprehensive EMR took the facility down a path with its key players (information services, finance, risk management, quality improvement, billing and coding personnel, and the health information management director).A list of clinical and operational endToday’s Wound Clinic Spring 2008 27

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Today's Wound Clinic - Spring 2008

Today's Wound Clinic - Spring 2008 Contents InTroduction InBusiness Documentation: The 30,000-Foot View Documentation: Clearing Up the Role of Compliance InTech InPhotography InFluence InStruction InNews InCentive Ad Index

Today's Wound Clinic - Spring 2008

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