Software streamlines prevention, tracking
November 1, 1997 2 minutes read
Software streamlines prevention, tracking
Tracks potential and existing wounds
Leaders in wound care focus on the need to accurately assess a patient’s risk for developing wounds and track the progress of existing wounds. Now practitioners can turn to a new computerized system that streamlines and standardizes the assessment and tracking processes and proposes prevention and treatment options.
The Wound & Skin Intelligence System (WSIS) incorporates two independent analysis components, one for evaluating a patient’s risk for developing pressure sores and the second to track existing wounds, explains Patrick McNees, PhD, president of Applied Health Science in Seattle, which developed the WSIS. The risk assessment program relies on the widely known Braden Risk Assessment Scale. In fact, says McNees, Barbara Braden, PhD, and others who helped develop the Braden scale collaborated with Applied Health Science to design early prototypes of the WSIS.
"Once the scores [from the wound assessment] are entered into the program, the system moves through a set of algorithms and returns a patient-specific recommendation to fit the patient’s risk profile," McNees explains. "It then advises you what can be done to reduce that patient’s risk of developing a pressure ulcer, such as how often to turn a patient, or suggesting the need for a nutritional consult."
Based on the Pressure Sore Status Tool (PSST), the tracking component of the WSIS considers 13 specific wound characteristics. A less comprehensive option also can be selected. "Some people argue that you don’t need to look at all 13 factors in every case. The shorter [option] is less arduous in terms of data collection," McNees says. Both versions perform the same function by analyzing factors such as the amount of exudate and necrotic tissue and the presence of infection. The program also provides treatment options based on each patient’s condition.
McNees stresses that the prevention and treatment options offered by the software are not meant to be a definitive prescription or to replace the clinician’s judgment. "It’s a support system that provides a tentative set of intervention alternatives," he says. "The clinician, of course, can accept them or reject them as he or she chooses. We found that we could reduce the incidence of pressure ulcers by using those algorithms. However, some people are still going to get pressure sores no matter what you do."
The WSIS has been applied to several thousand patients and was used to compile a substantial database. From that, the system will continually "re-educate" itself and adjust its algorithms accordingly, which is why the system has been dubbed "intelligent." Database compilation can aid clinicians by enabling them to compare protocols for prevention and healing and their related outcomes within a health care facility or among facilities. Marketed through ConvaTec in Princeton, NJ, the system costs $395.
You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
- Award-winning Medical Content
- Latest Advances & Development in Medicine
- Unbiased Content