WoundCentrics launches its LTACH Inpatient Wound Care Services at Acuity Specialty Hospital

Press Release:  For Immediate Release

WoundCentrics launches its LTACH Inpatient Wound Care Services at Acuity Specialty Hospital

WoundCentrics of New Braunfels, Texas has announced that it has started providing its specialty inpatient wound care services to the Acuity Specialty Hospital of Southern New Jersey in February 2020.  WoundCentrics inpatient wound care program is designed around the needs of the LTACH staff and patients and is focused on providing wound care in collaboration with the facility’s existing clinical team.

Acuity Specialty Hospital of Southern New Jersey (ASHSNJ) is a 69-bed Long Term Acute Care Hospital (LTACH) that is 100 percent employee-owned. The hospital is specifically designed and staffed to provide intensive care to patients who are either ventilator dependent or have other medically complex conditions such as extensive non-healing wounds, infections, multi-system failures or complications from surgery. The hospital utilizes a physician led interdisciplinary team of highly skilled clinicians who develop a customized plan of care designed to support and effectively treat some of the most complex clinical conditions found in healthcare.

Patients are referred for care at ASHSNJ from all over the United States. In the Delaware Valley, 35 community and tertiary care hospitals choose ASHSNJ for extended hospitalization and continuity of care. Since 2005, ASHSNJ has been setting the standard of care in the industry, patient clinical outcomes are among the best in the nation for ventilator weaning and complex wound healing.

“Despite the challenging times we are facing in the midst of the current COVID-19 healthcare crisis, patient’s needs continue and wound care is a vital part of their care. We are proud to work with the medical and administrative team at Acuity Specialty Hospital of Southern New Jersey,” claimed Stuart Oertli, Chief Operating Officer for WoundCentrics.  “The New Jersey Acuity Hospital is our fourth Acuity facility to contract with to provide our inpatient wound care program and team up with the local providers to ensure quality, advanced wound care to the patients admitted to the LTACH Hospitals,” Oertli stated.

WoundCentrics was founded in 2012 to provide integrated solutions for advanced wound care to hospital and post-acute facilities, including the LTACH specialty hospital.  WoundCentrics has provided wound care focused services to over 75 facilities in 15 states.

WoundCentrics Chief Medical Officer has research published in Medical Journal

Press Release:  For Immediate Release – January 2020

WoundCentrics Chief Medical Officer has Research published in Medical Journal

In January, 2020, Marcus Gitterle, MD, Chief Medical Officer of WoundCentrics, LLC of New Braunfels, Texas, saw publication of a case series in the Journal of Biological Regulators and Homeostatic Agents entitled:

"TREATMENT WITH NOVEL HYBENX® ROOT CANAL CLEANSER SUGGESTS BIOFILMS BLOCKED HEALING OF HUMAN WOUNDS: CASE SERIES"

The paper* discusses the use of a new anti-biofilm strategy which has been shown to be universally effective at killing all types of bacteria and fungi with a 10 second, one-shot treatment.

While this treatment methodology has seen extensive use in dentistry, its use in wound care is currently novel. This case series illustrates the applicability of such anti-biofilm strategies to wound care in general, and especially the care of chronic, refractory, non-healing ulcers.

WoundCentrics, LLC encourages its clinicians to engage in clinical research, and to publish in peer-reviewed journals, to help advance the state-of-the-art in wound care.

*TREATMENT WITH NOVEL HYBENX® ROOT CANAL CLEANSER SUGGESTS BIOFILMS BLOCKED HEALING OF HUMAN WOUNDS: CASE SERIES, Gitterle, M, JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL REGULATORS & HOMEOSTATIC AGENTS ,   Vol. 34, No. 1 (S1), xx-xx (2020)

The Clinical Benefits of Sharp Debridement in Wound Care

Update on Wound Care in the LTACH

Wound debridement is considered by most wound experts to be an important aspect of wound management. Debridement facilitates several processes that are essential for wound healing, including the removal of dead and necrotic tissue. This “biological burden” is removed to control bacterial colonization, prevent wound infection and to allow the practitioner to properly visualize and assess the full extent of the wound and involved structures. This guides further treatment, optimizes wound dressings and sets the stage for more advanced treatments, such as engineered skin substitutes. 

Sharp debridement promotes wound healing by removing impeding dead tissue and bacterial biofilm; and it is also clear that debridement “resets” cellular signaling proteins to the acute phase of wound healing, allowing wound healing to proceed in a more optimal fashion. 

When debridement is performed on appropriate patients in a timely fashion, wound healing can proceed much more rapidly, leading to better outcomes, higher patient satisfaction, and lower overall wound care supply costs. When performed by appropriately trained providers, debridement can be effective and efficient, while imposing little overhead on facility operations, or additional burdens to caregivers. 

The value of sharp debridement is well documented as a critical approach to managing problem wounds and wound healing. A retrospective analysis assessed wound outcomes in relation to frequency of wound debridement.  This study, by Wilcox, Carter and Covington, looked at 154,644 patients with 312,744 wounds of all types over a 4 year period in 525 clinics. The study demonstrated clear evidence of improvement in wound outcomes with increasing frequency of debridement (P > 0.001), and concluded “The more frequent the debridement, the better the healing outcome.” 

At WoundCentrics, we believe in evidenced based care and appropriate debridement is a key component of a comprehensive wound care program. Effective, timely debridement can mean the difference between excellent outcomes and high patient satisfaction, and merely average or even sub-optimal outcomes. That is why we train and certify our providers in sharp debridement as an important clinical skill of wound care.

WoundCentrics offers an Inpatient Wound Care Program with trained specialist(s) on-site daily seeing wound patients with the goal to optimize wound progression in the LTACH.

WoundCentrics offers a Complimentary Virtual  LTACH  Wound Care Analysis

WoundCentrics Completes 2019 as NALTH Visionary Partnership Sponsor

For Release: Immediate November 2019

WoundCentrics Completes 2019 as NALTH Visionary Partnership Sponsor

The National Association of Long-Term Hospitals (NALTH) is a not-for-profit organization that supports member Hospitals and the industry. NALTH is actively involved at the state and national level developing and recommending policy priorities. NALTH works with constituency-level insurers, including private payers, Medicare, Medicaid and HMO Groups to develop and draft new policy initiatives affecting long-term care hospitals, patient admission criteria and payment policy.

NALTH provides its members the opportunity to participate on task forces to develop strategies to address the challenges that long-term care hospitals face in the changing healthcare environment and to influence policies impacting payment reform and the ability to care for those who need an LTACH level of care.

As a professional organization, NALTH provides opportunities for research, education, standards of care, input on payment policy and networking within the industry.

NALTH has two (2) Annual Conferences each year, the Spring Clinical Conference at various locations throughout the U.S. and the Fall Leadership and Advocacy Day Conference, held annually in Washington D.C. in conjunction with a day of member lobbying with their Congressional representatives.

NALTH, as an organization, is funded by member dues and partner sponsorships such as those of WoundCentrics. WoundCentrics as been an organizational partner/sponsor since 2014 and this past year, participated in a special opportunity offered by NALTH at a new, higher level of vendor sponsorship, known as the “Visionary Partnership”.

As a long time NALTH partner/sponsor, WoundCentrics was honored to be the first annual “Visionary Partner” for this important LTACH industry organization.

WoundCentrics will continue to be an Advocate Partner in 2020 and beyond, the highest level of sponsorship currently available. As an Advocate Partner in the new year, WoundCentrics will be exhibiting at the NALTH Spring Conference in Charleston, South Carolina, April 22 – 24, 2020.

We hope to see you there!

Dr. Heather Aguirre joins WoundCentrics in the San Antonio Market

Press Release:  For Immediate Release    September 24, 2019 

Dr. Heather Aguirre joins WoundCentrics in the San Antonio Market 

South Texas native Heather G. Aguirre, D.O. has joined WoundCentrics of New Braunfels, Texas, to provide specialized, clinical wound care services in the San Antonio market. 

Dr. Aguirre received her undergraduate degree in Biology from the University of Texas at Austin, her graduate degree in Biomedical Sciences from the University of North Texas Health Sciences Center and Doctorate of Osteopathic Medicine at University of North Texas Health Science Center, Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine Forth Worth in July 2013.  She is board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine. 

Dr. Aguirre comes to WoundCentrics from her position as the Medical Director at Rollins Brooks Hospital Wound Care Center in Lampasas, Texas where she was also Vice President for Central Texas Wound Healing and Associates.  

Dr. Aguirre has a long history of volunteering to serve professionally and currently serves as the Legislative Co-Chair and a Board Trustee for the Texas Osteopathic Medical Association.  She was recognized as the New Physician of the Year in 2017 by the Texas Osteopathic Medical Association. 

Dr. Aguirre will be providing wound care services in the San Antonio market for WoundCentrics, with an emphasis on Hyperbaric Medicine, Skilled Nursing Facilities, Long Term Acute Care Hospitals and Rehabilitation Hospitals.  She will be based out of the Christus Santa Rosa Westover Hills campus for both inpatient and outpatient wound care and hyperbaric medicine. 

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Marcus Gitterle, M.D. and Kaye Moseley, RRT, of WoundCentrics Present at the UHMS Gulf Coast Chapter Meeting in Dallas

 News Release:  For Immediate Release                                               September 9, 2019

Marcus Gitterle, M.D. and Kaye Moseley, RRT, of WoundCentrics Present at the UHMS Gulf Coast Chapter Meeting in Dallas

Marcus Gitterle, M.D., FACCWS, Chief Medical Officer for WoundCentrics and Kaye Moseley, RRT, RCP, CHT, CHWS, WoundCentrics' Corporate Director of Compliance, were presenters at the Fall Meeting of the Gulf Coast Chapter of the Undersea Hyperbaric Medical Society (UMHS) in Dallas, Texas Saturday Sept 6, 2019.

Dr. Gitterle lectured on “New Technology in Non-Invasive Vascular Testing” and Kaye Moseley presented information on “How to Prepare for a Target, Probe and Educate Audit for HBO2”.

Dr. Gitterle’s presentation highlighted the importance of understanding the emerging trend of non-invasive vascular testing for wound care patients that suffer from chronic, non-healing leg wounds.  Understanding the vascular component to chronic non-healing wounds is a critical precursor to their treatment and vascular testing is the standard of care for lower leg wound patients. Non-invasive vascular testing opens new options for assessing lower extremity blood flow in patient who are not able to tolerate traditional assessment techniques.

Ms. Moseley’s lecture focused on The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) continued increase in auditing of claims for hyperbaric medicine services and the importance of documentation in managing an audit in hyperbaric clinics today.  Kaye’s information provided the process and information required for a clinic and clinicians to be adequately prepared to manage a CMS audit on hyperbaric claims and protect themselves from recoupment of payment on otherwise covered services.

The Gulf Coast Chapter of the UHMS mission is to promote educational activities for physicians and allied health professionals in the Gulf Coast Region based on a needs assessment of the members and in collaboration with the UHMS' Panel of Experts. These activities are intended to improve the scientific and practical knowledge of attendees in the areas of hyperbaric oxygen treatment and diving medicine.

Both presentations were accredited for Continuing Medical Education units for both physicians and other allied health professionals.                                                                                                                    

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WoundCentrics facilitates opening of new wound care center with Baptist Health

WoundCentrics facilitates opening of new Wound Care Center with Baptist Health Corbin;

The Hospital posted the following Press Release on their eNews site;

 * See copy below:

 Baptist Health announces opening of Wound Care Center

The Wound Care Center at Baptist Health Corbin will provide specialized treatment for chronic or non-healing sores or wounds that have not significantly improved from conventional treatments.

Chronic wounds affect more than 6.5 million patients in the U.S., and the incidence is rising fueled by an aging population, increasing rates of disease and conditions such as diabetes, obesity and the late effects of radiation therapy.

The regional wound program will serve patients that suffer wounds that are associated with inadequate circulation, poorly functioning veins, infection and immobility; non-healing wounds lead to lower quality of life and ultimately can lead to amputations. When such wounds persist, a specialized approach is required for effective healing. The new Wound Care Center will offer leading-edge treatments including debridement, specialty dressings, negative pressure therapies, bioengineering tissues and biosynthetics.

The Wound Care Center will be under the Medical Directorship of Dr. David Lauber and will have specialty trained nurses and staff providing clinical care to the patients in the region.

“We are pleased to offer specialized wound care to the patients in Corbin and southeastern Kentucky,” said Anthony Powers, hospital president. “As part of our mission, we are committed to advancing wound healing by creating and sharing our wound care expertise; everywhere we can, for every patient who would benefit, by the best means available,”

“The Wound Center uses an interdisciplinary model of care using the newest approaches to care, technologies and treatments for challenging wounds,” said Sherrie Mays, MSN, RN, VP, Chief of Nursing. “The Wound Care Center will coordinate the focus on wound care with the other disease states that includes infectious-disease management, physical therapy, occupational therapy, laboratory evaluation, nutritional management, pain management, diabetic education, radiology testing, and debridement to address total patient health.”

The new Wound Care Center will be located in the same area as the Infusion Clinic at 1 Trillium Way, Corbin, KY. The wound care services are designed to complement your physician’s care. Patients are frequently referred by their primary care physician, and the program operates by appointment. Based on extensive evaluation, a customized treatment plan is developed to optimize the therapies best suited to address the patient’s needs. Care is usually administered on an outpatient basis.

Types of Wounds We Treat

We treat the following types of wounds at the Baptist Health Corbin Wound Center:

• Arterial

• Burns

• Diabetic ulcers

• Infected or slow-healing surgical wounds

• Ostomy Care

• Pressure ulcers

• Skin grafts/Flaps

• Skin tears/Lacerations

• Venous stasis

Coming for an appointment

Wound Care is located at entrance C2 of the main campus in the Infusion Clinic across from our Outpatient Surgery Center.

Call us at 606.523-8602 for more information or visit BaptistHealth.com/Corbin. Providers from all specialties can refer a patient; however, you do not need a physician referral to schedule an appointment.

ContinueCARE Hospital at Baptist Health Madisonville Adds WoundCentrics Wound Services

Press Release: For Immediate Release

WoundCentrics, LLC of New Braunfels, Texas, announced that has expanded its relationship with CHC ContinueCare to provide its specialized in-patient wound care services to ContinueCARE Hospital at Baptist Health Madisonville (KY).

ContinueCARE Hospital at Baptist Health Madisonville is a 36 bed Long Term Acute Care Hospital LTACH located on the fourth floor of Baptist Health Madisonville, a 410 bed facility located in Madisonville, Kentucky. 

ContinueCARE Hospital is a “hospital-within-a-hospital,” that is a separately licensed acute-care hospital with the ability to provide intensive and complex medical treatment including complex wound care. Their specialty programs are specifically designed to meet the needs of long-term, acute-care patients and WoundCentrics is pleased to collaborate in offering its specialized in-patient wound care services as part of the exceptional care already being offered.

“We are excited to continue our relationship with CHC ContinueCARE, they are an exceptional organization that is truly focused on providing exceptional care to the patients they serve. Our in-patient wound program will be a compliment to the excellent clinical care already being provided and fits well with WoundCentrics' mission to bring the best wound care possible to our partner facilities. We are proud to now offer services to CHC ContinueCARE in four states and eight hospitals.” stated Stuart Oertli, Chief Operating Officer of WoundCentrics.

ContinueCARE Hospital at Baptist Health Madisonville opened in the summer of 2015 and is located at 900 Hospital Drive, 4th Floor, Madisonville, KY 42431.

WOUNDCENTRICS COMPLIANCE OFFICER ATTENDS ANNUAL UHMS MEETING

Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society Annual Scientific Meeting

               Wyndham Rio Mar Puerto Rico Golf and Beach Resort June, 2019

  Each year the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS) holds an international scientific meeting to provide a forum for professional scientific growth and to improve the knowledge and competence of hyperbaric medicine providers in order to improve patient outcomes.

     The meeting provides a basis for exchange of ideas, both scientific and practical for physicians, researchers, and other health care professionals.  The UHMS Annual Scientific Meeting consists of abstracts, poster presentations, plenary sessions, and social events.  The Annual Scientific Meeting affords an opportunity for participants to meet and interact with past and present leaders of the UHMS and to become more active in Society affairs. 

      Kaye Moseley, WoundCentrics Director of Compliance and Regulatory Reimbursement and an active board member of the UHMS attended this year’s meeting in Puerto Rico. The meeting provided valuable information on topics such as the accepted uses of hyperbaric oxygen in clinical and diving medicine, critique of current decompression schedules and the development of safer protocols, pathophysiology and treatment of toxic and anoxic disorders in which hyperbaric oxygen is used either as he primary or as an adjunctive modality. Participants were also introduced to new diagnostic, research or therapeutic techniques and equipment pertaining to hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

     In addition to the main scientific lecture sessions, the Associate Members of the UHMS (Non-physician) held a one-day breakout session with lectures and poster presentations geared more toward hyperbaric operations.  These lectures covered topics such as new mechanical ventilator technology for use with multi and mono-place chambers, infection control practices, patient education, facility accreditation, The Joint Commission updates and probes, CMS and third party payer requirements for hyperbaric oxygen therapy, biological skin substitutes, and debridements. At the end of the Breakout session Kaye led a Round Table discussion on  Compliance,  Reimbursement and Preparation for a  CMS Target, Probe and Educate audit of HBOT. 

    Across the country, the hyperbaric industry is experiencing a decrease in the number of treatments provided and the negative financial impact of CMS and third party payers’ control over payment for HBOT.  Unfortunately, the impact on our patients in need of the therapy is far greater. As an active board member of UHMS, Kaye is able to keep WoundCentrics’ partners abreast of actual and planned regulatory changes to minimize the clinical and operational impact on their wound clincs.

     Everyone who attended the meeting agreed, compliance with the local MAC’s LCD and adhering to the clinical documentation requirements are critical to ensure we can continue to offer Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy to patients.   Through education and legitimate clinical research, the UHMS continues the quest for approval of new HBOT indications while trying to maintain our current indications. 

Kaye, through her participation in UHMS, continues to support WoundCentrics and its partners in advocacy for hyperbaric medicine’s utility and efficacy.

Kaye Moseley

WoundCentrics Director of Compliance and Regulatory Reimbursement

Associate Representative, UHMS Board of Directors

UHMS Finance Committee Member

President-Elect Gulf Coast Chapter of the UHMS

Darlene Carey with WoundCentrics to Present at the SAWC in San Antonio

Darlene Carey, MBA, VP of Clinical Operations with WoundCentrics

Darlene Carey, who serves as Vice President of Clinical Operations for WoundCentrics of New Braunfels, Texas, will be a guest faculty presenter at the Spring 2019 Symposium on Advanced Wound Care Spring | Wound Healing Society Conference in San Antonio May 7 – 10 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Conference Center in San Antonio, Texas.

The SAWC Conference features exciting new cutting-edge topics led by the most dynamic and influential educators in wound healing to further move the wound care community forward and create a dynamic and unified voice to support the shared mission – improving patient care.

Darlene will present information on clinical Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) and how it has come under increased scrutiny in the last several years by payors. Now more than ever, clinicians must know how to select suitable candidates for this adjunctive therapy or potentially face financial penalties.

The lecture will focus on choosing appropriate patients for HBOT using real life examples of approved indications and information from the national coverage determination (NCD). In addition, the presentation will emphasize the key elements of documentation required to meet medical necessity criteria. The goal of the lecture is for clinicians to feel comfortable identifying patients and providing necessary documentation for hyperbaric therapy.

In her leadership role at WoundCentrics, Darlene is responsible for the implementation, opening and ongoing operations of wound centers. She began her healthcare career in the early 1980s and has served in both acute care and specialty facilities. Transitioning from inpatient acute care to outpatient wound centers in 2000, she has been involved in over 87 wound centers, both de novo and existing centers needing re-engineering across the country. Darlene is intrigued by process improvement, especially as it relates to employee productivity. She received her MBA from Delta State University and her Bachelors degree from the University of Southern Mississippi. She has published articles in wound care journals on topics of Quality, Process Improvement and Work Flow. Outside of healthcare she serves on the Board of the National Association of Junior Auxiliaries.

Darlene’s Presentation is scheduled for Friday, May 10th at 3:30pm. · Session 43: HBOT: Patient Selection in the Age of Scrutiny

Friday, May 10 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM