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. 2020 Jul;32(7):178-185.
Epub 2020 Apr 24.

Wound Center Without Walls: The New Model of Providing Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Lee C Rogers  1 , David G Armstrong  2 , John Capotorto  3 , Caroline E Fife  4 , Julio R Garcia  5 , Helen Gelly  6 , Geoffrey C Gurtner  7 , Lawrence A Lavery  8 , William Marston  9 , Richard Neville  10 , Marcia Nusgart  11 , Karen Ravitz  12 , Stephanie Woelfel  13
Affiliations

Wound Center Without Walls: The New Model of Providing Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Lee C Rogers et al. Wounds. 2020 Jul.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic poses a major challenge in delivering care to wound patients. Due to multiple comorbidities, wound patients are at an increased risk for the most extreme complications of COVID-19 and providers must focus on reducing their exposure risk. The Federal, State, and local governments, as well as payers, have urged hospitals and providers to reduce utilization of nonessential health services, but they also have given more flexibility to shift the site of necessary care to lower risk environments. Providers must be prepared for disruption from this pandemic mode of health care for the next 18 months, at minimum. The wound provider must accept the new normal during the pandemic by adapting their care to meet the safety needs of the patient and the public. The Wound Center Without Walls is a strategy to untether wound care from a physical location and aggressively triage and provide care to patients with wounds across the spectrum of the health system utilizing technology and community-centered care.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The setting and utilization shift of wound patients before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. ASC: ambulatory surgery center; OBL: office-based laboratory
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
The shift in the standards of care before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. CTP: cellular- or tissue-based product; NPWT: negative pressure wound therapy
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Pandemic triage system for wound patients. Adapted from Rogers et al. ASC: ambulatory surgery centers; OBL: office-based laboratory; HOPD: hospital outpatient department
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Wound Center Without Walls escalation algorithm of care for wound patients based on triage category and setting. Red: critical; Orange: serious; yellow: guarded; green: stable; IDSA: Infectious Diseases Society of America; SIRS: systemic inflammatory response syndrome
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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