TWC News Update

School of Medicine Establishes Warriner Scholarship

  Barry University’s School of Podiatric Medicine will be using a $25,000 donation by school dean Jeffrey Jensen, MD, and his wife Celia to launch the Dr. Robert Warriner, III Scholarship for Research in Neuropathy Prevention at the Paul & Margaret Brand Research Center in Miami Shores, FL. The scholarship will provide research scholarships to podiatric medical students researching neuropathy prevention.   Warriner, who passed away in August, was recognized among the nation’s foremost physicians and researchers in hyperbaric medicine and wound management. Donations can be made by visiting www.barry.edu/giving/donate. Select the “In Memory Of” option, then type “Dr. Robert Warriner III Scholarship Fund” in the designation box that appears.

Mobile App for Diabetes Care

  A new mobile application designed for healthcare providers who care for people living with type 1 diabetes has been released by Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical company Lilly. The Lilly Glucagon Mobile App teaches the proper use of glucagon for injection through simulated practice and helps caregivers understand the drug’s role in diabetes management by better preparing them on how to use glucagon in the event of an emergency. The app was developed with input from healthcare providers and people with diabetes, and can be used by diabetes educators and school nurses as a teaching tool, Lilly officials said. Components of the app also include visual and audio emergency instructions.

Portable NPWT Device

  EquinoxO2 Medical LLC, Smithfield, RI, has introduced a new pump system for ambulatory patients who require negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT). The HALO XP NPWT pump system is a lightweight, portable system that combines advanced technology with easy-to-use features, officials said. It’s expected to provide an affordable option to patients and healthcare facilities.

TWC Board Member Guides Wound Management Program

  Today’s Wound Clinic board member Harriet L. Jones, MD, BSN, FAPWCA, associate professor of medicine, is among staff at University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC), Jackson, MS, that will soon provide care in the facility’s first comprehensive wound management clinic.   According to facility officials, more space is needed at UMMC to care for the number of patients coming in. Plans have reportedly been approved to renovate an area in the University Physicians Pavilion for a comprehensive wound management center expected to open next year. The program also will include tele-wound care.   Jones received her MD from UMMC School of Medicine in 1998 and completed residency training in internal medicine at UMMC in 2001. After she completed a fellowship in infectious diseases, she joined that division as an assistant professor of medicine and surgery in 2003 and began an outpatient antimicrobial service program in the division of infectious diseases.

California Hospital Launches Area’s First HBOT

  Nonprofit Healdsburg District Hospital (HDH) recently began offering what’s reportedly the only hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) service available in Sonoma County at Northern California Wound Care (NCWC).   According to HDH officials, NCWC has exceeded the national healing rate for wound care treatments, consistently healing 95-97 percent of wound cases, since its inception in 2010. The wound care department is led by Daniel Rose, MD, medical director of HDH’s wound care services.   Approximately 15 percent of patients seen in the clinic qualify for HBOT. With numerous “centers of excellence,” HDH serves as the first-line inpatient, outpatient, and emergency care facility for 60,000 residents of Windsor, Healdsburg, Geyserville, Cloverdale, and surrounding areas of northern Sonoma County.

Partnership Brings Wound Care Training

  Healthcare staff at Tri-City Medical Center, Oceanside, CA, is teaming with Massachusetts-based biotech company Organogenesis Inc., to receive wound care training. The preceptor program will be conducted at Tri-City’s Center for Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine in Carlsbad, CA.   According to a report by the North County Times of Escondido, CA, Tri-City is one of just two centers nationwide that partner Organogenesis has chosen for the training program.

Net Health Acquires Wound Care Strategies Hospital Expansion Opens New Wound Center

  A nearly $2.1 million facility expansion at Munroe Regional Medical Center (MRMC), Ocala, FL, will be used to expand the wound care treatment program. According to the Star-Banner newspaper of Ocala, wound care services are expected to be operating in a new outpatient location by January in Cala Hills, FL.   Most wound patients currently receive wound care on an inpatient basis, a program that reportedly doesn’t offer hyperbaric oxygen chambers. The new facility will.    “I think it’s a great opportunity for the community to get a comprehensive wound care program,” said Lon McPherson, MD, Munroe’s vice president of medical affairs and chief quality officer.   Munroe will reportedly take over the lease of a nearly 5,100-square-foot building that houses Ocala Health System’s Wound Care & Hyperbaric Services. Munroe will not take over the business, according to the report. Officials estimate the program will be profitable by its second year and generate a net income of about $150,000 annually by year three. Estimates also see the facility serving about 300 patients per year, with each patient making about 10 visits. Officials said that by taking over a building already fitted as a wound care center, MRMC will save about $95,000 in startup costs.   MRMC is owned by the state-sanctioned Marion County Hospital District and is overseen by trustees appointed by the county commission. The trustees currently lease the hospital to Munroe Regional Health System Inc. The hospital board and district trustees voted unanimously to give hospital executives permission to lease the property, according to the report. Under the plan, Nautilus Healthcare Management Group, Newport Beach, CA, will manage the wound center for Munroe. By the second year of the three-year lease, Munroe will pay Nautilus $589,000 for its management oversight and onsite personnel, according to the report. Munroe also will pay another estimated $263,000 in overhead costs during the second year of operation.   Officials with Pittsburgh, PA-based Net Health Systems, a provider of clinical information systems for the wound care industry, have announced the purchase of Wound Care Strategies, Inc., (WCS) developer of the TPS™ electronic medical record software for wound care clinicians. According to officials, the combined companies support the clinical information systems of more than 50 percent of US wound clinics.   With the transition, WCS founder and president, and Today’s Wound Clinic editorial board member, Cathy Thomas Hess, BSN, RN, CWOCN, will join Net Health as vice president and chief clinical officer, bringing more than 25 years of experience in wound care.    “Cathy’s experience in various acute care, long-term care, and outpatient wound clinics is impressive and positions Net Health to offer our clients an expanded base of knowledge,” said Anthony Sanzo, Net Health CEO. “We’re excited to have this industry veteran on our team as we continue to grow.” Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Medicaid Decision Could Affect Wound Care in Georgia

  A decision by Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal to reject expansion of Medicaid prescribed by the Affordable Care Act would leave thousands of the state’s poorest residents uninsured and threaten hospitals that were counting on new income from these changes.   According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Deal’s decision has set off widespread anxiety among hospital officials and patient advocates.    “I have diabetics who lose legs because they do not get wound care or get to see a podiatrist,” said Carole Maddux, CEO of Good Samaritan Health & Wellness Center in Pickens County.   The federal healthcare law calls for anyone younger than 65 with an income up to 133 percent of the federal poverty line to be eligible for Medicaid starting in 2014. Under the law, the feds would pay 90-100 percent of the cost of the Medicaid expansion, which would add 650,000 state residents to the program’s rolls, according to the report. Georgia officials project its share of the expansion would reach $4 billion over 10 years.   According to the report, the governor might agree to expand Medicaid if the federal government gave the state a “block grant” of money and the freedom to tailor the program — neither of which is currently in the law. Failing to expand Medicaid would be most costly to hospitals that care for uninsured Georgians. About one in five state residents is reportedly uninsured.   According to Kevin Bloye, spokesman for the Georgia Hospital Association, state hospitals currently provide about $1 billion in uncompensated care.