(CR-044) Enhancing Home Health Wound Care: An In-Depth Study of the Impact of Utilizing Digital Wound Imaging and Measurement Technology on the Timeliness and Volume of Home Wound Care Evaluations ( 2021-2023)

Chronic wounds are a common and complex condition in North America. 1 Evidence suggests that digital wound care solution (DWCS) can improve wound care evaluation and visits by enhancing efficiency. 2 

The purpose of this quality improvement study was to compare the average time it took to complete a home health wound care evaluation between 2021 and 2023 for 29 home health agencies (HHAs) that have implemented DWCS as part of their advanced wound care programs since 2021. The study also monitored the changes in the proportion of evaluations completed within 60 minutes and 24 hours from 2021-2023. 


Methods: The study assessed the time it took to complete an evaluation utilizing a subset of data from the DWCS wound evaluations database to evaluate wound episodes from 29 HHAs across the US from 2021-2023 (Jan-Nov). Additionally, the time it took to complete an assessment was stratified by 60 minutes and 24 hours for the same period. 

Results:

The study recorded a total of 755,194 evaluations of 138,302 wound episodes. Overall, the study found a downward trend in the average time to complete an assessment, resulting in a 52.8% faster time to review and complete wounds during home care visits in 2023 compared to 2021. The study also reported a notable 142% increase in conducted wound evaluations. 

There was a significant increase of 35.6% in the proportion of evaluations completed within 60 minutes in 2023 compared to 2021 (56% in 2023 vs. 41.3% in 2021). The study also reported a notable 254% increase in the number of evaluations completed. Additionally, there was a 15.3% increase in the proportion of assessments completed within 24 hours in 2023 compared to 2021 (75.4% in 2023 vs. 65.4% in 2021). There was also a significant 292% increase in the number of evaluations completed. 


Discussion: Over time, HHAs that adopted DWCS demonstrated improved clinical efficiency. HHAs were able to complete and review wound evaluations in less time, and in some workflows, the time taken to complete quality assurance reviews also improved. Additionally, HHAs were able to increase the number of wound care assessments they performed.