SIERRA MADRE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The prevalence of chronic wounds in the U.S. now impacts 6.5* million people, similar to the number of individuals diagnosed with heart failure. To help its partners increase awareness of their wound care programs in local communities, Wound Care Advantage (WCA) has launched FlightPlan™, the industry’s first referral source algorithm. FlightPlan makes it easy to identify local physicians treating patients who may be in need of advanced wound treatment.
“Close to 7 million patients are in need of wound care right now, and we know where they are,” said Mike Comer, CEO of Wound Care Advantage. “We’ve developed an advanced algorithm that identifies physicians with patients currently in need of a specialized wound treatment program.”
“We look for smart ways to develop and integrate technology into all areas of our organization,” said Nick Keezer, CTO of Wound Care Advantage. “FlightPlan was designed around three main objectives: to identify providers or physicians with patients who may need specialized care; to reduce the time it takes for a wound program to connect with the local community; and to better track and manage community education efforts.”
Finding local patients that need wound care, when they need it, can be a major challenge for wound center management.
“As a busy program director, an important element of my job involves creating a strategic community education plan tailored to our region,” said Melinda McIntosh, RN, program director at the Clark Memorial Hospital Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Medicine center in Jeffersonville, Indiana. “FlightPlan addresses the time-consuming task of locating physicians in our area with patients who may benefit from our wound care program. It’s truly remarkable.”
The beta test for FlightPlan was conducted in three states at several facilities. Each center achieved improvement across several key metrics. A comparison of the year-over-year quarter after implementing FlightPlan showed the following:
- 38 percent average increase in total visits
- 30 percent average increase in active physicians
- Re-engagement with physicians in the area who had not referred in over six months
For more information about Wound Care Advantage and FlightPlan, please visit http://www.thewca.com.
