Partners Home Care's Wound Program Receives National Award
(WALTHAM, MA, February 19, 2009) Partners Home Care's Wound Care Program has received a National Home Care and Hospice Innovations Award, an honor that showcases programs and service delivery models from across the country that advance the practice of home care and hospice.
The agency's Wound Care Program received the third place award and was selected from a total of 27 applications submitted by agencies throughout the country. The program was recognized for three key achievements - providing consistent high quality wound care; decreasing supply costs; and managing visit utilization.
"We are very proud of this award as it represents our core values to maximize resources and build efficiencies that improve quality of care for our patients," said Chris Attaya, MBA, president and chief executive officer for Partners Home Care, who accepted the award at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the National Association for Home Care & Hospice.
Based in Waltham, Massachusetts, Partners Home Care (PHC) provides wound care to as many as 500 patients each day. "For years, we have had the luxury of having a number of highly skilled WOCNs on staff to provide care to our patients," said Judy Flynn, RN, BSN, MBA, vice president of Patient Quality Care, Partners Home Care. Costs were skyrocketing and hard to contain. "We saw room to leverage the skills and expertise of our Wound Resource Nurses to help not only improve care, but also build efficiencies."
In PHC's new program, the Wound Resource Nurse (WRN) has been elevated to take on a combined role of consultant, instructor, and supply manager. "The new oversight provided by the WRN ensures that each patient receives optimal wound treatment and that every clinician has the requisite skills," says Flynn. In order to improve supply management, systems are in place to ensure the right product is used for care leading to minimal waste. Leveraging the expertise of the WOCN also extends the agency's management of visit utilization.
Within this new program's first year, the overall length of stay for wound patients decreased by 13%. Wound supply costs decreased by approximately $20,000 per month, an annual savings of nearly a quarter of a million dollars.
"By utilizing our Wound Resource Nurses' expertise, we are able to build bench strength in wound care, enhance the wound care experience of staff, maintain oversight of the cost of supplies, and ensure ongoing review of treatment regimens," With ongoing education and training by WRNs, field clinicians also feel their wound care expertise has improved.
"For our patients and referral sources this program has bridged a critical gap in the continuum of care," says Flynn. The WOCN involvement prior to discharge and ongoing dialogue with hospital and clinic-based wound specialists ensures that there is continuity and collaboration, resulting in improved outcomes and quality of care.
Patients are impressed with the quality of wound care provided by the agency. The use of advance wound products has lead to faster healing and less frequent wound treatments, providing patients with more freedom and flexibility in their lives. Physicians and nurses in several major teaching hospitals in the greater Boston area routinely refer their ostomy and complex wound patients to the agency.
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