Remote Wound Care.

Bolton, Laura

With the increasing global presence of and reliance on smartphones, featuring high-resolution digital photography and wireless, high-speed Internet, patients with wounds and point-of-care wound professionals are increasingly engaged in remote wound management and surveillance. Twenty years ago, home wound care professionals, advised by remote experts using telemedicine, were achieving sterling chronic wound outcomes. Mobile technology has sharply reduced transportation costs compared with clinic visits. Registered nurses using smartphones to access a web-based surgical infection site (SIS) surveillance algorithm based on validated Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, extended reliable, valid SIS surveillance into the first month of home care as recommended in the guidelines. This improved timely SIS identification and management while generating a registry that motivated patients and caregivers. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic accelerated needs for evidence-based care delivered by telemedicine, empowering wound care professionals to deliver quality care while limiting risks associated with patient contact. This installment of Evidence Corner reviews 2 randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that used telehealth in varying ways to improve health care delivery and outcomes. One reported use of a telehealth application is to improve patient knowledge and outcomes of diabetic foot care. The second compared clinical and economic outcomes for patients with complex wounds whose local clinicians delivered home care guided by remote experts using telemedicine with those of similar patients managed without expert advice in the home or patients who attended wound clinics.