Top Questions to Ask About Your Wound Care Service Line
Quality of Care
Would you send your mother or father to your wound care center?
How many of your patients are getting healed and in how long?
Efficiency, Cost and Utilization
Is your wound center profitable?
How productive is your current staff compared to national benchmarks?
Are you using wound care supplies and consumables effectively?
What is your capital/equipment utilization? Can it be improved with operational efficiencies? What reports are you using to monitor and improve your center’s efficiency?
Does your wound center EMR provide wound specific templates and workflow?
Revenue Cycle
Does your documentation support your coding?
Are you getting paid appropriately for the services rendered in the wound center?
Do you have a thorough process for denial and partial payment follow-up?
Consistency of Care
Do your patients receive treatment using a consistent care pathway for their type of wound?
Is the care pathway based on evidence of best treatment protocol?
What is the variability of outcomes across your patient population? Wound types? Provider seen?
Internal Reputation
Are your floor nurses, physicians and discharge planners aware of the services at your wound center?
How does your center help shorten patient length of stay? Readmissions? HAPUs?
What is your coordination of care between inpatient and outpatient services for chronic wounds?
External Reputation
Is your wound center perceived as a “Center of Excellence” in your community?
Do the doctors and home health agencies in your community regularly send their patients to your center?
Who are your top referring doctors?
Would a patient in your community drive past another provider to come to your center?
How do you ensure patients know your center exists and how to access it?
What do your patients say about your wound center?
Physician Engagement
Are the physicians that work in your wound center committed to full-time or part-time coverage?
Do other physicians in your community view the wound doctor as a potential for losing their patient if they refer to the wound center?
How many clinic hours have no physician coverage scheduled or are cancelled last minute?
Training and Education
Is your staff trained in the latest wound care best practices?
Does your staff receive regular, ongoing training and education for advanced wound care?
Do your physicians receive regular wound-specific training and resources?