Wound Care and Hyperbaric Therapy Blog

BackgroundAs outlined in our previous blog post, "Skin Substitutes - What's New in 2023? Are Major Updates Coming Up?", the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Se...

News

CY 2025 Medicare Home Health Final Rule: Essential Updates for Wound Care Clinicians

BackgroundOn November 1, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the Calendar Year (CY) 2025 Home Health Prospective Payment System ...

Pioneering the Future: WoundReference Simplifies Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Wound Care at AAWC

At WoundReference, our commitment to advancing innovation in wound care remains at the forefront of everything we do. Our recent collaboration with the Associat...

Optimizing Wound Care Training with WoundReference’s Competency Tool: A Modern Approach

IntroductionIn healthcare education, traditional methods have long emphasized extensive, theory-heavy programs that require significant time commitments. For to...

Accelerating Wound Care Competency Development: An Innovative Solution for an Aging Society

IntroductionThe healthcare industry is bracing for significant demographic shifts. Projections indicate a 25% increase in the population over 65 years by 20601,...

news

CY 2025 Medicare PFS Final Rule: Essential Updates for Wound Care Professionals

BackgroundOn November 1, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a rule finalizing changes for Medicare payments under the Physician...

news

CY 2025 Medicare OPPS and ASC Payment System Final Rule: Essential Updates for Wound Care Programs

BackgroundOn November 1, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued Medicare payment rates for hospital outpatient and Ambulatory Surgi...

PDGM and Wound Management: Where Does Your Home Health Agency Stand? A Guide to Self-Analysis

BackgroundPatient Driven Grouping Models (PDGM) went into effect January 1, 2020, and was the single most significant change to home health care (HHC) in the pa...

What's New?

The Promise and Responsibility of AI in Wound Care: Enhancing Clinical Decision-Making

IntroductionArtificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing healthcare, offering unprecedented capabilities that were once confined to the realm of science fict...

Continuing Education

Hyperbaric Certification and Continuing Education for Technologists & Nurses

The Importance and Recognition of Hyperbaric Certification for Technicians and NursesWhy get certified? It is the position of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medica...

Recent News and Articles - Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and Wound Care (January 23 to March 23)

Posted March 2023Clinical- AHRQ Systematic Review on telehealth: Use of Telehealth During the COVID-19 Era Systematic Review Jan 3, 2023 concluded that:"Whereas...

Hyperbaric Oxygen Medicine Certifications for Providers

Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine as a SubspecialtyUndersea and Hyperbaric Medicine is a medical subspecialty focused on preventing and treating injuries and ill...

Choosing a wound certification that is right for you

Scroll the table to the right to see all columnsCertificationCertifying entityEligibilityExperience required?LicensureNumber of exam questionsMinimum passing sc...

HBO Safety

Quality of Care Requires Ongoing Competency Evaluations

Why conduct a Competency Assessment at your facility?Quality of care requires ongoing competency evaluationsAs clinical processes continue to grow in complexity...

Reimbursement & Compliance

Important Call to Action: Influence Medicare Coverage for Cellular and/or Tissue Based Products

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has recently announced that the Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) issued the collaborative propo...

Telemedicine

Reimbursement for Telemedicine Services in Wound Care

UpdatesWith the end of the Public Health Emergency (PHE), which is set to expire on 5/11/2023, the major Medicare telehealth flexibilities will not be affected,...

June is Wound Healing Awareness Month

June is the Wound Healing Awareness Month! This annual celebration was created to recognize the challenges experienced by individuals whose lives are affected d...

News

WPS J5 Part A Targeted Probe and Educate Problem Error Rates

As published by the Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) WPS Government Health Administrators on 4/15/2024, the service with the second highest error rate i...

News

Wound Reference and ELCOS at EWMA 2024

In May 2024, at EWMA 2024 (the European Wound Management Association conference), we celebrated a milestone in our collaboration with ELCOS - Portuguese Wound S...

Recent News and Articles - Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and Wound Care (2018-2022)

Posted April 2022Reimbursement- COVID-19 PHE is Renewed Through July 15- CMS continues to gradually end some emergency blanket waivers allowed under the COVID-1...

News

Together Towards Tomorrow: MASC and Wound Reference

We recently had the honor of participating in the Malta Association of Skin and Wound Care (MASC) Conference “Together Towards Tomorrow: Collaboration in Wound ...

News

WoundReference Set to Deliver Breakthrough Investor Presentation at Venture Summit West

SILICON VALLEY – WoundReference has recently become one of only 150 selected companies worldwide to secure a coveted presentation slot at the prestigious 11th a...

News

WoundReference wins the Journal of Wound Care Award 2024 for Innovation in Wound Care

The JWC AwardsFrom changing their approach, to employing new systems in order to optimize wound care, the Innovation in Wound Care Award is open to all people i...

Quality

MIPS in Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine - Improvement Activities

The MIPS Improvement Activities Category is one of the four categories comprising the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)'sMerit-based Incentive Pa...

Quality

MIPS in Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine

Collection period for Medicare's Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) 2023 started on January 1st, 2023 and ended on December 31, 2023.The original March...

Reimbursement & Compliance

Expanding Care: Medicare's 2024 Coverage Update for Lymphedema Compression Treatment Items

Starting January 1, 2024, Medicare extended its coverage to include lymphedema compression treatment items for Medicare Part B patients. This long-awaited chang...

Reimbursement & Compliance

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy - The 30 Day Requirement For Diabetic Foot Ulcer

Getting reimbursed for your services - preventing hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) services Medicare denials when treating Diabetic Foot Ulcers (DFU)When denying...

REIMBURSEMENT & COMPLIANCE

December 2023 Updates on CMS Hyperbaric Reimbursement Discrepancies

December 2023 UpdatesOn December 21 2023, CMS issued an update to the previously published payment for HBOT, correcting the unadjusted reimbursement rate for CP...

Skin Substitutes - What's New in 2024? Preparing for a Phased Approach

BackgroundAs outlined in our blog post " Skin Substitutes - What's New in 2023? Are Major Updates Coming Up?", in 2022 the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Ser...

Reimbursement & Compliance

Skin Substitutes - What's New in 2023? Are Major Updates Coming Up?

BackgroundAs announced in July of 2022,the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed several changes to their policies forskin substitute produc...

HBO Safety

Safety stops, checklists… when to document

Safety StopClinicians providing hyperbaric oxygen therapy go to great lengths to ensure patient safety with every treatment. We utilize processes and systems th...

Reimbursement & Compliance

A Roadmap to Medical Billing and Coding Audits for Wound Care Providers

Wound care providers can use this medical billing roadmap to improve their clinical documentation and comply with medical necessity and payer coverage policy re...

News

Spring 2023, Wound Reference Around the World

Spring here is in full bloom! The WoundReference Team is excited and honored to support educational activities organized by the Brazilian Society for Plastic Su...

Investigational HBOT Indications - Inflammatory Bowel Disease

IntroductionIt is time for the third installment of diseases that are considered “off-label” for hyperbaric oxygen ... yet, these diseases have some (sometimes ...

HBO Safety

COVID-19 - Cleaning the Hyperbaric Chamber

COVID-19 is caused bythe 2019 Novel Coronavirus, orSARS CoV-2.Many hyperbaric facilities have been wondering which cleaning products are effective against SARS ...

HBO Safety

Investigational HBOT Indications

We would like to start this blog series by emphasizing that we are not recommending HBOT for off-label indications. However, the use of HBOT for certain off-lab...

Reimbursement & Compliance

How to set up and optimize your wound care formulary

Why set up and/or optimize your Institution’s Formulary?The goal of a wound care product formulary is to help all healthcare professionals who care and treat pa...

Wound Reference Inc partners with Malta Association of Skin and Wound Care (MASC)

Wound Reference Inc partners with Malta Association of Skin and Wound Care (MASC) to promote cost-effective, standardized wound management in Malta by leveragin...

HBO Safety

Prohibited Items, Risk Assessment And Authorization

What is your role in hyperbaricmedicine safety? Are you a Technologist, Nurse, Safety or Medical Director? In any of these roles, you will need to address prohi...

Patient Education

Spanish Patient Education Materials In Wound Care and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

According to the United States (U.S.) Department of Health and Human Services, the Hispanic/Latino ethnic group includes any person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Ri...

Why WoundReference

Simplifying wound care and hyperbaric product choices

Wound care and hyperbaric products - too much to choose from, too little timeIt has been reported that at least 50% of chronic wounds in the real world do not h...

Prohibited Items Vs Restricted?

Wound dressings are commonly used inside hyperbaric chambers. They play an important role in infection control and patient outcome. However, wound dressings, de...

Helping People in Ukraine

We have personally donated to charities supporting people in Ukraine. Would you like to help Ukraine as well? Here is a list of top charities assembled by our e...

Jobs

Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine Job Board

This is an expanding list of job openings in wound care and hyperbaric medicine. Check back frequently for updates. The list is provided as a courtesy for your ...

Limb preservation

Building a Limb Preservation Program: Challenges and Successes

Watch the InterviewThe literature shows that more than 60% of amputations are preventable. Among patients with chronic limb threatening ischemia, up to 50% of p...

Continuing Education

Online CME and CEU Resources in Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine

This is an expanding list of free and paid resources for online continued medical education (CME) and continuing education unit (CEU) on wound care and hyperbar...

News

WoundReference Co-Founder Tiff Hamm Wins the "The UHMS Associates Distinguished Service" 2021 Award

It is with great excitement that we announce that WoundReference Co-Founder and Chief Nursing OfficerTiffany Hamm, BSN, RN, CWS, ACHRN, UHMSADShas received "The...

News

WoundReference Co-Founder Jeff Mize Wins the "The UHMS Associates Distinguished Service" 2020 Award

It is with great excitement that we announce that WoundReference Co-Founder and Chief Clinical OfficerJeff Mize, BS, RRT, CHT, CWCA, UHMSDSAhas received "The UH...

Nutritional Screening for Wound Care and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

How important is nutritional assessment in hyperbaric oxygen therapy?One of the keys to a successful patient outcome is assessing nutritional status. If the pat...

How the Digital Age is Transforming Wound Care

Impact of the digital age in healthcareIt is widely understood at this point that the ever-increasing digitization of our world has begun to change the healthca...

Quality

WoundReference Digital Formulary: Local Wound Care Formularies Made Easy

What's new?Advances in Skin & Wound Care published updates on our study on implementation of the WoundReference Digital Formulary Module atNewton Medical Ce...

Provider Supervision of HBOT

Do physicians need to directly supervise hyperbaric oxygen therapy services (HBOT)?It is helpful to first review the definitions of the different types of level...

Telemedicine

New Webinar! Adding Patient-Centered Telehealth to Your Wound Care Practice

Virtual experience joint-produced by the Mid-America Wound Healing Society & WoundReference. Available to WoundReference FREE subscribers. Sign up for a FRE...

News

ACHM's First Annual Advanced Wound Care and Hyperbaric Conference 2020

Attendees were extremely pleased with the American College of Hyperbaric Medicine (ACHM)'s First Annual Advanced Wound Care and Hyperbaric Conference that took ...

What wound care and HBOT clinicians need to know about Coronavirus

UpdatesHow many COVID-19 cases are there in the U.S.?- The number of cases is being actively monitored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).H...

HBOT and COVID - 19

Here is what we know and what we don't know about HBOT and COVID-19Synopsis: UHMS Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Committee Meeting on COVID-19 and HBO2.This is a syn...

What's New?

[Now Live] TeleVisit Tool 2.0 Features for Improved Video Call Reliability

What's New in WoundReference?We've released 2 important features that enhance video call reliability: Pre-call Audio Test and the Restart Call ButtonWhy is this...

What's New?

[Now Live] TeleVisit Tool 2.0 Waiting Room Quick Tour For Patients and Invited Clinicians

What's New in WoundReference?When patients and invited clinicians click on the link to the video call, they are directed to the TeleVisit Tool 2.0 waiting room,...

News

A Peek Into 2021 - CMS Proposals and Implications for Wound Care Programs

In August 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid published two proposed rules for the calendar year (CY) 2021 with provisions that may be of interest to wo...

News

2020 July 24-26, WoundReference Wins Award and Presents Posters at the SAWC Virtual

PostersWoundReference presents three posters at the 2020SAWC Virtual Conference.The posters feature two of WoundReference's innovative tools: Dressing Change Br...

telemedicine

3 Ways Telemedicine Can Help Wound Care Clinicians Combat the New Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Impact of coronavirus in the U.S.The Trump Administration announced on 3/13/20 aggressive actions and regulatory flexibilities to help healthcare providers and ...

Telemedicine

WoundReference Offers Free Use of TeleVisit Tool Video Chat

To assist with efforts aimed to decrease spread of COVID-19 and limit non-emergent healthcare visits, WoundReference is making available the HIPAA compliant Vid...

Telemedicine

What is new in 2019 for Telehealth and Telemedicine?

2019 was a landmark for telemedicine services -The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services started to reimburse healthcare providers for a broader range of...

telemedicine

Interprofessional Internet Consultations with the WoundReference TeleVisit Tool

What's new?Today's Wound Clinicfeatured our article entitled "Adopting Telemedicine in Wound Care: Interprofessional Internet Consultations".The article illustr...

Webinar: Unwrapping Venous Leg Ulcers

Virtual experience joint-produced by theMid-America Wound Healing Society & WoundReference. Available to WoundReference premium subscribers.Sign upto watch ...

HBO Safety

HBOT Chamber Maintenance Records Retention

How long do we need to keep hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber logs/records/annual preventative maintenance records?As healthcare continues the process of transi...

Investigational HBOT Indications - Preconditioning for Cardiac Surgery

IntroductionWelcome to another post on plausible, off-label uses for hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT).We have previously discussed the rationale for using hyper...

Investigational HBOT Indications - Infertility

INTRODUCTIONWe have previously discussed the rationale for using hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) in an “off-label” indication (see "Investigational HBOT Indica...

Errors and Healthcare

IntroductionPatient safety is a serious public health issue. Like obesity and motor vehicle crashes, harms caused during care have significant mortality, morbid...

News

2019 October 12-14, WoundReference Presents Posters and Wins Award at the SAWC Fall in Las Vegas

PostersWoundReference presents three posters at theSAWC Spring Conference October 12-14, 2019,Las Vegas, NV. The posters feature three of WoundReference's innov...

2019 September 11-14, WoundReference presenting posters at the Wild on Wounds Conference in Vegas

WoundReference presents three posters at the Wild on Wounds (WOW) Conference in 2019. The posters feature three of WoundReference's innovative tools: Dressing C...

HBO Safety

Hyperbaric Safety Drills - Are You Prepared?

Never underestimate the importance of safety drillsKnowing emergency procedures and drills are critical to safety in the workplace and for your patients. Perfor...

Why WoundReference

Promoting Patient Education and Self-care with the Dressing Change Brochure Editor

Does this sound familiar?Most of us have been in at least one of the situations below:- Not enough time during the visit to properly teach your patients how to ...

HBO

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy And Congestive Heart Failure

IntroductionIs congestive heart failure a contraindication to hyperbaric oxygen therapy?Congestive heart failure (CHF) may be a relative contraindication to hyp...

Why WoundReference

HBO Knowledge Base - Overview and Tutorials

OVERVIEWOverviewTUTORIALSHBO Indications - Physician Order SetsHBO Threshold LevelsHBO Treatment TablesHBO Operations Manual - Emergency ProceduresHBO Operation...

HBO Operations

Hyperbaric Program Staffing Guidelines - Why do We Need Them?

We all have asked ourselves...The development of staffing criteria of the hyperbaric service requires the consideration of several factors to ensure that each t...

Reimbursement & Compliance

CMS Medically Unlikely Edits (MUE)

INTRODUCTIONWhat exactly are Medically Unlikely Edits (MUE)?   "A MUE isa maximum number of Units of Service (UOS) allowable under most circumstances for a sing...

news

2019 May 7-11, WoundReference presenting posters at the SAWC Spring Conference in San Antonio

WoundReference is presented two posters at the SAWC Spring Conference May 7–11, 2019,San Antonio, TX. The posters featured two of WoundReference's innovative to...

HBO Safety

Inclement weather? Check the Chamber Exhaust Termination Points

Could your Chamber Exhaust Termination Points be blocked?April, May and June are the peak months for tornadoes in the United States. We have heard from colleagu...

news

2019 April 25, WoundReference at the MidAmerica Wound Healing Society Conference

The WoundReference Team was so excited to be part of the event Partners in Wound Healing 2019 Heroes In Wound Care, organized by the MidAmerica Wound Healing So...

News

WoundReference publishes new study on Instant Personalized Product Handouts

The WoundReference Team published the study entitled "A New Mobile-responsive Solution to Increase Patient Adherence: Instant Personalized Product Handouts" on ...

Compressed Gas Handling And Safety

Hyberbaric Chamber SafetyThe safe handling and storage of compressed gas cylinders in the hyperbaric facility should be done in compliance with the National Fir...

HBO Safety

Housekeeping and the NFPA 99

What is housekeeping?According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, housekeeping is:- the care and management of property and the provision of equipment and servi...

HBO Safety

HBO must read - Hyperbaric Oxygen therapy and oxygen compatibility of skin and wound care products

This is a recommended read for all hyperbaric clinicians picked by our editorial team.Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and Oxygen Compatibility of Skin and Wound Care ...

HBO Safety

CMS NFPA 99 requirements - what does it take to be compliant?

Why is fire safety important in a hyperbaric oxygen therapy facility?Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBO) facilities are constantly at risk of fire, as conditions ne...

Reimbursement & Compliance

CMS Targeted Probe and Educate for HBOT Codes 99183 & G0277

Be aware and prepare for the Targeted Probe and Educate (TPE) review processThe goal of CMS's Targeted Probe and Educate program is to help providers and suppli...

Reimbursement & Compliance

Know Your Place Of Service

Why accurate reimbursement with place of service coding mattersInaccurate information on claims frequently leads to incorrect reimbursement and hassles when try...

HBO Safety

Active Shooter In A Healthcare Facility

In early May 2018, two women were shot outside of Mount Sinai Hospital (Chicago) while waiting for news on a relative who was shot earlier in the day. In June 2...

Reimbursement & Compliance

Obtaining Prior Authorization from Non-Medicare Carriers for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy

?INTRODUCTIONDenied claims due to unauthorized patient procedures or services can be a major loss in revenue. Although most medical offices and provider based d...

HBO Safety

The Role of the Medical Director in Hyperbaric Safety - A Brief Overview

The Role of the Medical Directorin Hyperbaric SafetyI've been asked to address some of the qualities of a hyperbaric medical director with the theme of hyperbar...

HBO

Free Sample HBO Topics

Below please find a list of selected sample topics to illustrate the types of content within the HBO Knowledge Base. These topics can also be accessed from the ...

News

WoundReference wins the Journal of Wound Care Cost-effective Wound Management Award

The Award Entry in a NutshellLocal wound dressing formularies reinforce use of clinically appropriate and cost-effective products.The process of creating and ma...

Free Sample Wound Care Topics

Below please find a list of selected sample topics to illustrate the types of content within the Wound Care Knowledge Base. These topics can also be accessed fr...

News

2018 September 12-15, WoundReference presenting posters at the Wild on Wounds Conference in Vegas

WoundReference presented the two posters below at the Wild on Wounds (WOW) Conference in 2018. The posters featured two of WoundReference's innovative tools, Pr...

News

2018 September 13, WoundReference at the Mid-America Wound Healing Chapter Meeting

Chief Nursing Officer Tiffany Hamm and Chief Clinical Officer Jeff Mize met with the members of the Mid-America Wound Healing Society at their Chapter Meeting i...

Explore our Wound Care and Hyperbaric Solutions

Learn More

Wound Care and Hyperbaric Blog

Newsletter Archive

Basic Navigation

Feature Navigation

Solutions

Individuals:

Institutions:

Special Features:

Newsletter Signup