(03/2023) For comprehensive wound care, new criteria and new reimbursement rates would have to be introduced in collective and individual contracts. This was what André Lantin, Managing Director of the WZ-WundCenters in Düsseldorf, demanded at the BVMed discussion forum “One hour wound” at the beginning of November.
In particular, the time factor must also be adapted to chronic and difficult-to-heal wounds. From the point of view of BVMed expert Juliane Pohl, new concepts for specialized wound treatment work very well. Therefore, the general recommendations of the central associations should be included in the care contracts in order to enable qualitative and up-to-date patient care.
Lantin referred to the innovations that were made through the introduction of the so-called specialized care of chronic and difficult-to-heal wounds. These offer an opportunity for better care of wounds by qualified nursing experts. However, there is a lack of adequate remuneration to bring specialized care to the area. It is currently hardly clear how many providers with qualified nursing professionals opt for this form of care and follow the specialization of the nursing profession.
Distinguish between acute and chronic woundsEven the guidelines and expert standards have not yet led to a significant improvement in the care of chronic and difficult-to-heal wounds. This is due to the remuneration for wound treatment and thus the time that can be devoted to patients. For example, the contractual flat rates do not yet differentiate between an acute or a chronic wound that is difficult to heal, the treatment of which is more time-consuming.
Lantin pointed out that his wound centers document the course of treatment digitally and standardized with over 150 fixed parameters. This could be used to create analyzes for health services research, ensure quality management and increase the efficiency of care. 76,000 treated wounds are documented.
You can also see how much time it takes to treat a wound in accordance with the guidelines. Digitization also offers transparency in the use of personnel and products. One has also been able to gain good experience with telemedicine in order to easily involve co-treatment specialists from other facilities.
Since 2008, the WZ Wound Centers have been present with their treatment concept at 23 locations in seven federal states. On average, patients have been suffering from their chronic or difficult-to-heal wound for more than twelve months. In the majority of patients, wound closure was achieved in less than four months under treatment in one of the WZ wound centers. WZ-WundCenter GmbH based in Düsseldorf is a company of the recucare group.
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