June 2022 edition

Sydney Local Health District has proposed a new local model of care for wound management that utilises a Digital Wound Application in the setting of a Virtual Wound Care Command Centre. The aim is to improve assessment, management and documentation processes for all patients with complex and chronic wounds.

Across the district, over 4,000 chronic wound patients are discharged annually and nearly 100,000 wound service events occur in outpatient settings. In the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth consultations in association with digital applications enabled effective remote wound care monitoring with timely interventions for patients with chronic wounds. 

Case for change

Patients with wounds seek care from a wide range of community‑based services and health care professionals, from primary to the acute care sector. These services vary in their knowledge, skills and ability to heal chronic wounds, and the transition between these services is not adequately coordinated.

Access to expert wound advice is often limited to specialised clinics, which are often confined to major cities and towns.

Overall, the lack of coordination between health care sectors and difficulties in accessing wound care expertise contributes to increased health care costs and inferior outcomes for wound patients.

Taking a value based healthcare approach

A recent research study conducted by the district showed that a new model of care will:

  • lead to faster wound healing
  • reduce unplanned hospitalisations related to wound issues and the number of times patients are required to travel
  • provide timely wound care consultations
  • achieve higher patient satisfaction and quality of life.

The Digital Wound Application in the Virtual Wound Care Command Centre (eWCC) will improve assessment, management and documentation processes for all patients with complex and chronic wounds.

The new wound application in eWCC will:

  • standardise clinician documentation to ensure comprehensive and reliable information about wound care is recorded in the Electronic Medical Record
  • mentor clinical staff in wound management
  • enhance virtual wound care, reducing face-to-face consultations between staff and patients for wound related care and saving consultation time
  • involve patients, in hospital as well as from the comfort of their own home, in their wound care
  • improve wound care communication between clinicians
  • improve wound outcomes and reduce hospital length of stay and readmission of patients with wound care requirements
  • improve data capture to:
    • reduce Hospital-Acquired Complications
    • improve Activity Based Funding reporting
    • unplanned hospitalisations by providing timely wound care consultations
  • mitigate the risk of privacy issues associated with transfer and upload of wound photos.

 

Current as at: Wednesday 22 June 2022
Contact page owner: Strategic Reform and Planning