Grant Medical Center

Grant Wound Care and Hyperbaric Services Streamlines Program Operations and Improves the Bottom Line with WoundExpert

Established in 1992, the Wound Care and Hyperbaric Services program at Grant Medical Center in Columbus, OH was an early pioneer in the ambulatory outpatient wound care arena. Providing clinically excellent and cost effective wound care is both a goal and challenge for the program, as Grant is a member of OhioHealth, a not-for-profit charitable health care organization.

In late 2002, Cindy Steager was brought over from Grant Medical Center, as the new Wound Care and Hyperbaric Services manager. At the time, the management company operated facility was operating in the red, and Grant administration had reservations about the program’s long-term financial viability.

Cindy undertook a comprehensive review of all facets of the program: clinical, operational and financial. Her conclusion, the program needed to streamline operations, improve staff productivity, and demonstrate financial solvency.

A key capability the management company provided was a proprietary outcomes tracking and reporting system particularly beneficial to the Grant staff and OhioHealth administration.

Cindy realized manual outcomes tracking and reporting would not be cost-effective and quickly set out to find a solution to the reporting needs Grant and OhioHealth administration expected. Cindy and her team reviewed three electronic documentation and outcomes tracking alternatives; ultimately, Grant chose WoundExpert.

WoundExpert satisfied all of the program’s requisite needs - simple data collection, seamless access to patient data including HBOT, customizable clinical recommendations, ancillary services tracking and HIPAA-compliant reporting and benchmarking.

“Patients who understand and participate in their treatment plan achieve optimal outcomes. WoundExpert’s Summary Reports detail patient healing progress, showing before and after images available upon request. This allows us to effectively partner with our patients and referring physicians in the delivery of quality care,” said Cindy.

The Grant team especially appreciates how easy it is to work with WoundExpert. The integrated process flow from scheduling to clinical capture helps streamline operational efficency. In addition, Cindy utilizes the many marketing, outcomes tracking and reporting tools available in WoundExpert, to effectively administer the program.

Ultimately, this has permitted the program to deliver the bottom line results Grant administration determined were essential for continued program viability, growth, and future reinvestment.

Today, Grant uses WoundExpert Outcomes Tracking to generate comprehensive outcomes reporting, including wound progress reports, referral communications, and services reimbursement reporting. “WoundExpert allows Grant to document excellence in clinical outcomes demonstrating value to our patients, family members, referring physicians, and Grant Medical Center and OhioHealth,” adds Cindy. “WoundExpert allows us to measure our clinical, operational, and financial results against a national database of hundreds of similar outpatient wound clinics across the U.S.”

Cindy worked closely with Net Health’s Client Services staff, in tailoring the reports the program provides to Grant Medical Center and OhioHealth administration, including healing rates, outliers, and patient wound progress.

Cindy is impressed with WoundExpert’s scalability and looks forward to the day when Grant has wireless internet access across the facility. She is committed to Grant’s implementation of a 100% paperless, WoundExpert Electronic Medical Record, as soon as their building’s technology infrastructure permits.