Wound care is something I’ve written about a lot in the past year or so, not least in a recent blog that outlined a number of interesting innovations in the field.

The range of innovation in wound care was outlined in a recent paper, which documented the development of a new app, aptly called WoundCare, that allows patients to send images of their wounds to healthcare staff to help provide earlier detection of infections etc.

Surgical site infections (SSIs) are the most common hospital-acquired infection and one of the main causes of hospital re-admission.  The researchers, from the University of Wisconsin, wanted to test whether postoperative wounds could be monitored by the patients and photos sent via the WoundCare app, with a brief questionnaire gathering data impossible to capture via a photo.

Early detection

It’s widely believed that patients struggle to identify when their wound is infected, which often then leads to the presenting of an advanced wound complication at a standard clinic appointment.

To try and improve matters, the researchers recruited 40 patients who had recently undergone vascular surgery.  Each was asked to provide updates on their wound via the app, during which time seven wound complications were detected.

“We set out to come up with a protocol where patients could become active participants in their care and allow us to be in closer communication and monitor their wounds after they leave the hospital,” the authors say.  “This approach allows us to intervene at an earlier time, rather than waiting for patients to come back in after the problem has already developed past the point of being able to manage it on an outpatient basis.”

The users also revealed their personal enthusiasm for the app and found it very easy to use.  They also felt reassured that their wounds were being regularly monitored by health professionals.  What’s more, the nurse practitioners also found the process valuable and noticed the impact it was having on patient satisfaction levels.

The challenge however is finding time in their already busy schedule to look at and review the wound images.  It’s a problem the authors believe can only really be tackled by having a dedicated transitional care program.

Cost effective

The researchers believe that despite this, the process can have a significant cost saving for healthcare providers.  SSIs are incredibly expensive, costing on average $30,000 per re-admission, and up to $10 billion across the US each year.

“If you could imagine saving the cost from the number of patients whose re-admission you were able to prevent, that result could provide significant savings to the health system,” they explain.

Indeed, quantifying the cost-savings associated with the process will be a key part of future work by the team.

They also wanted to make sure that the service was as accessible as possible.  This is crucial, as recent studies have highlighted how health apps are disproportionately used by affluent people.  They attempted to overcome this by providing training to participants on how to successfully use the app.

This approach proved useful, and they believe that the model can easily be rolled out to a range of medical centers, whether via the patients own smartphone or via phones lent to them by the facility.

“We have demonstrated that a population of complex and high-risk patients, many of whom are older adults and novice smartphone users, can complete this protocol with high fidelity and satisfaction,” the paper concludes.