Antibiotic Stewardship Enters the Information Age

Antibiotic stewardship programs have now become commonplace but these programs are implemented in widely varying manners and show wide variations in impact, both clinically and financially.

WoundCentrics, LLC aims to improve the impact of antibiotic stewardship for all stakeholders, through a new product called ABX Steward (ABXSteward.com).

Embodying best practices in information design, HIPAA compliance and clinical antibiotic stewardship policy, ABX Steward enables a pharmacy-based, clinical review of antibiotic prescribing down to the individual case level.

ABX Steward enables your pharmacy staff to conveniently submit clinical data electronically to our cloud-based infrastructure, where it is transmitted to our team of board-certified ID experts for timely review.

Within 24 hours of initiation of the review process, a formal recommendation is sent to the pharmacy where it can be placed on the patient’s chart for action by the prescribing physician.

Reviews are objective, timely and conform to best practices. Moreover, unlike traditional, on-site review programs, there are no cumbersome physician contracts, or monthly minimum charges, and information technology is leveraged appropriately to improve the efficiency of the review process.

We believe ABX Steward to be the future of antibiotic stewardship and it is available today!

The future of wound care in the long-term acute care hospital setting

A Note From Our CEO

The future of wound care in the long-term acute care hospital setting is a troubling concern. Without a clear vision and plan for dealing with impending changes to admission requirements for wounds and acceptance of IPPS patients, some fear that LTACHS will no longer be able to provide the critical capabilities they offer to patients with limb and life-threatening wounds.

The National Association of Long Term Hospitals (NALTH) is conducting a wound care symposium in San Antonio, TX on September 28-29, 2015. At this conference I will be giving a presentation specifically devoted to addressing these concerns. In this presentation I will show how viable and profitable wound care remains in the LTAC setting.  To attend this event, please go to the NALTH website:http://www.nalth.com

My company, WoundCentrics, LLC has spent more than a year systematically preparing for these changes, so that our clients can continue to prosper, grow, and deliver impeccable care within their markets Let us show you how to plan for your facility’s future.

I look forward to seeing you in San Antonio.

Marcus Gitterle, M.D.
CEO, WoundCentrics

How aligned is your woundcare program?

In an insightful article in Becker Hospital Review, authors Lovrien, Peterson, and Salmon distinguish three types of provider alignment; namely Clinical Activity Alignment, Economic Alignment, and Alignment of Purpose, proposing that enduring success in a future healthcare market requires balanced emphasis on all three parameters of provider-hospital alignment.[1]

Woundcare is a critically important service line in the LTAC, with wounds representing a disproportionate share of discharge diagnoses, and a disproportionate share of CC and MCC diagnoses.

Forward thinking organizations have made development of Woundcare Departments a strategic focus. It’s no secret that the most successful LTAC organizations reap the rewards of high-functioning woundcare programs, in season and out, largely on the basis of provider alignment.

But how do we measure the parameters of alignment that predict successful, profitable woundcare programs? The answer is critical if a hospital, or health system intends to optimize, and maximize its woundcare opportunity.

Kurt Salmon, the strategic advisory firm whose analysts wrote the aforementioned article, offers a tool to help facilities and systems perform this sort of analysis, but it is not specific to woundcare. Let’s see if we can create some focused benchmarks using the framework, to help shed some light on alignment as it pertains to woundcare programs.[1]

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