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 MyHealth Record puts members in the driver's seat UPMC Health Plan's Focus on Women Emmi: a patient education tool Conferences, seminars, and grand rounds Technology assessment committee A team approach to wound care Help make our campus smoke-free Health Management staff available Make colorectal screening part of routine care Strengthen the link between medical and behavioral health care Survey Says! Providers give Health Plan top marks Literacy luncheon UPMC Health Plan and Armstrong County Wellness Initiative to receive national attention Clinical guidelines on the Web Blockbuster drugs going generic
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 A team approach to wound careIf you have a UPMC Health Plan patient with a wound that won’t heal, the new UPMC Wound Program may be able to help. The Health Plan, UPMC Jefferson Regional Home Health, L.P., UPMC Center for Quality Improvement and Innovation, and UPMC Wound Healing/Limb Preservation Clinic have joined forces in this new initiative to manage non-healing wounds. The UPMC Wound Care Program, a pilot program, will help determine if a more intensive approach will positively affect non-healing wound outcomes. Non-healing wounds are associated with increased hospital admissions, clinical complications, including amputation, and comorbid conditions, such as depression and diminished quality of life. Under this initiative, which began in January 2007, the patient’s PCP provides care in conjunction with an enterostomal therapist, a wound-healing physician consultant, and a home care team. This wound care team follows specific evidence-based protocols for the care of non-healing wounds. PCPs identify their UPMC Health Plan patients who could benefit from the service. At their referral, a wound care nurse makes a home visit to evaluate the patient. He or she takes baseline wound measurements and digital photographs and sends them to the PCP, who can then decide whether to initiate the recommended protocol. The PCP continues in the key role of managing the patient’s care, using information provided by the home health nurse. The PCP and other experts offer direction for complex wound care, monitor progress toward healing, and decide when changes in the protocol should be made. The enterostomal therapist makes home visits every two weeks to measure wound healing, and this information is tracked and analyzed by UPMC Health Plan. The PCP and other consulting wound care experts can view the initial intake data and current photos and measurements through a secure server. Through this 200-patient pilot program, the team aims to learn whether such rigor can improve outcomes for our members, including fewer amputations, better wound healing, and improved quality of life. Participants in the wound care initiative must be UPMC Health Plan members, have a diagnosis of a non-healing wound +/- 4 weeks, and reside in Allegheny County. Those residing in other areas will be considered on a case-by-case basis. |
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