Today's Wound Clinic - Spring 2008 - (Page 28)

intech points was created that would meet the vision for the ideal wound care software. Wound care professionals in the facility agreed that to meet needs the system must be a comprehensive medical record and financial system.There should be no duplication of work, and no transcription services needed. The system would have to be compliant with all regulatory agency requirements, have extensive reporting capabilities, and be able to grow with the changing technology capabilities.A system that could be interfaced with other hospital systems (MEDITECH in this case), work without an Internet connection for medical record documentation, store data on the network, yet provides a web interface for reporting and remote inquiries. To ensure financial success, the software would have to allow for maximal efficiency, provide auditing functions, assist in the quantification of work performed by clinicians and physicians, produce multiple clinical and operational reports, benchmarks and outcomes, and capture our spin-off revenues from referrals and tests ordered. complete nature of the records. They removed the review requirement and even decided not to bother with preauthorization requirements. This resulted in extensive cost savings due completely to the software system. The department has grown into 8000-square-feet with 10 exam rooms and two hyperbaric chambers. This author believes that TPS is dynamic and the software has allowed for meeting clinical and payment requirements. As the hospital has grown with the MEDITECH EMR, and considering the CMS initiatives, it is now engaging a companion management inpatient module for our TriAssess ® Premier Software, The Admission Assessment Manager ™. This module provides the vessel for documentation of the admission assessment and subsequent follow up care. Advanced practice wound care team members will utilize the inpatient software to identify and document pressure ulcers and catheter associated urinary tract infections upon admission and throughout the hospital stay for highrisk patients. This module will be seamlessly linked to the MEDITECH EMR, allowing all other care providers access to the wound care documentation and photographs. For those wary of switching to an EMR system, this author’s experience was very positive and the provider was available not only during the initial process but throughout the service. “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.” CUSTOMIZING THE SOFTWARE TPS continues to meet this author’s facility’s customized needs. The center’s process modules would ultimately include: • Clinical and Operational Policies and Procedures • Clinical Competency Validation Tools • Continence Assessment Module • Facility-Specific Chargemaster • E/M Calculator Module • Evidence-Based Pathways and Algorithms • Facility Level Mapping Management Module • Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Management Module • Order Management Module • Ostomy Management Module • Patient Education Module • Physician/Non-Physician Superbill • Scheduler Module • Skin Assessment Module • Suite of Risk Assessments • Wound Care Module THE SELECTION PROCESS For the author’s facility the choice was TriAssess® Premier Software (TPS) from Wound Care Strategies, Inc. It incorporated the key ingredients, processes, and extensive requirements. From the beginning, for this facility, this software has assisted the facility’s workflows, saved time; improved communication processes, increased patient safety, enhanced revenues and operational efficiencies, and assisted increasing patient satisfaction.TPS has allowed the center to manage the entire wound care process for performance and results. The facility was one of the first comprehensive wound programs in the area. One of the largest insurance companies in the area was not quite sure what to think, and put the program on 100% review. This was not difficult for the center due to the ease of processing the EMR reports. It did not take long before the insurance company was overwhelmed by the thorough and 28 Spring 2008 Today’s Wound Clinic N. Blair Hughes, MHS, PT, CWS, is the Director of Specialty Programs and Wound Care Services for Frederick Memorial Health System (FMHS) where she has been employed since 1993. Hughes teaches wound care courses, has published multiple articles, is a contributing editor for various textbooks, and has presented at the national level. FMHS opened its Advanced Skin & Wound Care Center in 2000, which has recently expanded to an 8000 square foot facility for wound and hyperbaric medicine in large part from the talents of. Hughes. The Advanced Skin & Wound Care Center provides evaluation and treatment for wounds of all etiologies and for patients of all ages. Program staff engages in inpatient, outpatient, and SNF levels of care.

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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