Teleconsulting in wound care: Connecting the primary care to the wound specialist reduces unnecessary referrals

In the Netherlands the primary care (General Practitioner or homecare nurse) encounter a variety of wounds ranging from traumatic to diabetic foot ulcers. According to a recent study 82.4% of the patients with a wound can be treated in a primary setting with the GP as medical supervisor. The remaining 17.6% of patients need more extensive care including advice by a specialised doctor, diagnosis and treatment. Prompt analyses and treatment of underlying causes by specialised doctors in a multidisciplinary setting is necessary for treating patients with complicated wound. This article describes the impact of Electronic Health Consultation on all wounds treated in the primary care. And describes the effect on the duration until referral to the hospital and the influence on the amount of unnecessary referrals to the hospital. All data was collected prospectively from June 2020 until October 2021. The study involved a process where primary care could seek advice from a Wound Physician at the Alrijne Wound Centre through a specialised Electronic Health Consultation. A total of 118 patients were analysed. 41/118 (34.7%) patients required a physical consultation with analysis and treatment in the hospital, after teleconsultation. The remaining 77/118 (65.3%) could be treated in primary care after Electronic Health Consultation. The mean duration of wound existence until Electronic Health Consultation was 39.3 days (range 5-271, SD: 38.5). 3/41 (7.3%) of the referrals were unnecessary. Electronic Health Consultation serves as a valuable and efficient tool for enhancing wound care, ultimately contributing to improved patient management and resource allocation within the healthcare system. This article describes the impact of Electronic Health Consultation on all wounds treated in the primary care and the influence on the duration until referral to the hospital and the influence on the amount of unnecessary referrals to the hospital.

Quality of Care and Cost-effectiveness: Optimizing Wound Care in the Netherlands

OBJECTIVE

Previously, the authors implemented a "fast-track protocol" in the Netherlands to shorten the time to referral for patients when diagnostic testing was deemed necessary given suspicion of underlying pathology preventing wound healing. This subanalysis of the cross-sectional study presents the cost reduction of using that fast-track protocol.

METHODS

The cross-sectional study data were collected at the Alrijne Wound Centre between January 2017 and January 2018 and included patients from two general practitioner practices and a large home-care organization who had a new occurrence of wounds. The cost-effectiveness analysis consisted of an analysis of the mean reduction in care, wound dressing materials, and reduction in unnecessary hospital referrals.

RESULTS

In 2017, a total of 415 patients received wound care of the general practitioners or home-care organization. By using the "fast-track" protocol, costs were reduced in all areas. After extrapolation, the minimum mean cost reduction in wound care was €129,949,638; on wound dressings, it was €2,623,920, and on the reduction of unnecessary hospital referrals, the average recovery was €2,436,000.

CONCLUSIONS

Prompt triage, analyses, and treatment of underlying causes by specialized doctors in a multidisciplinary setting offer enormous potential for cost savings. The conservative estimate is that approximately €135,000,000 to €293,000,000 can be saved in annual healthcare costs in the Netherlands using this protocol.

What COVID-19 taught us: New opportunities and pathways from telemedicine and novel antiseptics in wound healing

The COVID-19 pandemic deeply impacted the capacity of the health systems to maintain preventive and curative services, especially for the most vulnerable populations. During the pandemic, the wound healing centres in Italy assisted a significant reduction of the frequency of their hospital admission, since only urgencies, such as severe infections or wound haemorrhagic complications, were allowed to the hospital. The aim of this multidisciplinary work is to highlight the importance of a new pathway of wound care with patient-based therapeutic approach, tailored treatments based on the characteristics of the wound and fast tracks focused on the outpatient management, reserving hospital assessment only for patients with complicated or complex wounds. This analysis highlights the point that patients with chronic wounds need to be critically evaluated in order to find the best and most appropriate care pathway, which should vary according to the patient and, especially, to the characteristics of the wound. Moreover, the most adequate topic antiseptic should be started as soon as possible. An appropriate and correct management of the wound care will allow to link the knowledge based on years of clinical practice with the new challenges and the need to visit patients remotely, when possible.

Optimization of Best Practice Wound Care in the Netherlands

Estimates regarding the prevalence of chronic wounds in the Netherlands vary from 350 000 to 500 000. The cross-sectional multicenter study presented here provides evidence for the incidence and prevalence of wounds and chronic wounds. The primary aim of the present study was to provide evidence for incidence and prevalence of (chronic) wounds outside the hospital. The secondary aim was to optimize the organization for chronic wounds care within our region. From January 2017 until January 2018, information was prospectively collected of patients with new onset of wounds in 2 general practitioner practices to which 19 100 patients are enrolled. For the patients with new onset of wounds the “fast track protocol” was used and outcomes including etiology and wound healing were measured. This protocol included a structured treatment protocol and predetermined triage moments. The Alrijne Wound Centre database 2014 was used as a control group (469 records). The incidence of new onset of wounds was 364/19 100 (1.9%). The prevalence of wounds was 405/19 100 (2.1%). The prevalence of chronic wounds, that is, wounds that did not show a sufficient healing rate after 4 to 6 weeks, was 78/19 100 (0.4%). Time to referral to a wound physician (the triage moment) was 5 weeks versus 19 weeks in 2014 ( P < .001). Unnecessary referrals to the hospital was reduced by 17.4% ( P = .007). In conclusion, the prevalence of the chronic wounds was 4 per 1000 patients. The use of the “fast track” protocol optimizes wound care, wounds heal faster, and unnecessary referrals decrease significantly.

Surgical management for venous leg ulcers: The role of hope, investment and agency

A recent systematic review suggests that minimally invasive venous surgery for the treatment of leg ulcers may have a greater impact on quality of life than traditional approaches. A total of 11 participants who had previously undergone surgical management for leg ulcers took part in semi-structured interviews regarding their experiences. Using thematic analysis, three themes were identified: 'Living in Flux', 'Perceptions of Chronicity' and 'Expectations'. Surgical treatment may not only improve patients' quality of life due to treatment of the condition but also by opening up a sense of hope, investment and agency not associated with traditional treatment approaches.