In-Home Wound Care Assessments: Better Results, Faster Healing Through Data
Data is at the heart of everything we do in healthcare. We have access to more data than ever before, making it critical that we utilize it to unlock the healing potential of the we provide through wound care assessments.
In wound care, this translates into the power of the in-home assessment. The value of in-home wound care over the inpatient setting has been well documented, but it is this initial step in the process that paves the way for faster healing. Through the in-home assessment, wound-certified clinicians can get a sense of the patient’s needs and begin to collect valuable data points, including:
- Patient Assessment – it is vital to understand the patient’s unique home situation and any barriers that may prevent receiving care
- Wound Imaging Assessment – utilizing technology, we can get a dynamic look at the wound, allowing us to compare with similar wounds as well as future healing
- Physical Wound Assessment – a wound-certified clinician’s best tool is their own experience by talking with the patient and observing the wound, the clinician can catalog crucial data points
Assessment data triggers a plan of care that is specific to wound type and changes as the wound heals. In the case of Esperta Health, the Responsive Treatment Plan utilize wound characteristics and heal rate to generate wound-specific treatment plans updated in real-time so we can optimize outcomes and reduce secondary complications. Bolstered by technology, the algorithms update when the wound changes to drive healing outcomes by identifying poorly progressing wounds in line with validated studies of healing rates.
All of this starts with the in-home wound care assessment, resulting in:
Adaptability
Not all wounds heal the same way. The in-home assessment allows for a dynamic care process that can change according to the patient’s unique healing results, allowing wound-certified clinicians the ability to adapt the treatment plan and deliver the right results at the right time.
Consistent Quality
Consistency is one of the focal points of quality healthcare. For chronic wound patients, this means delivering regular treatments to patients when and where they need it. In-home assessments are the foundation of maintaining and implementing consistent standards of care.
Healing times
An in-home assessment is the first step to deliver faster healing times for chronic wound patients. The industry standard heal rate for chronic wounds is 120 days. Over a 90-day period, only 56 percent of wounds are healed. When we look at results for Esperta Health patients who underwent our in-home assessment and responsive treatment plan, we see that 74% of the wounds we treat healed in less time than the industry average.
In-home assessments result in better, faster results. It starts with the data we can collect, allowing us to develop treatment plans that adapt to the patient’s needs. Additionally, the more data inputs we have, the better Esperta’s AI tool becomes as it learns and refines care plans.
Even with this technology and data, wound-certified clinicians remain the most valuable resource we have. There is no substitution for the skill of an experienced, wound-certified clinician. The technology and data points empower them to deliver better and faster results for patients.