5 Ways to Optimize Wound Care Telehealth

Telehealth has been pretty much ubiquitous and a common solution for health care providers and patients since the COVID-19 pandemic, and wound care tleehealth is no different. While COVID-19 has certainly contributed to increased adoption, telehealth is also growing due to broader acceptance of remote treatment by clinicians and patients as access to new technology expands. Smartphones with high-resolution cameras and software with digital imaging capability have revolutionized wound care documentation and made remote care not only an option but an opportunity.

In 2018, only about 18% of physicians offered telehealth, but by 2023, that number had jumped to 74%. Many providers may have adopted telehealth for the first time in their practices due to the pandemic, but they are continuing to use it for the benefits to elderly, rural, and disabled patients. 

For wound care clinicians in particular, actually providing care to patients virtually can be tricky. While telehealth makes it possible for clinicians and specialists to extend care safely and effectively to patients through interactive technology, it is essential to understand how best to make these new tools meet their practice’s individual needs. Here is what your wound care practice needs to know to successfully incorporate telehealth into your workflow.

1. Choose the Right Wound Care Technology

A state-of-the-art wound care software program facilitates the use of cutting-edge imaging with just an app on a mobile device. But it takes more than just a way to capture images; look for the system that fits your workflow and allows for administrative, clinician, and potentially even patient access at the touch of a button. It’s likely you’ll need multiple software solutions: the technology you use for imaging, a video chatting interface, and an EHR that can interface with both. Identifying a flexible technology that can be integrated with current systems enables a clinic to keep up with demands, as well as grow, all while providing optimal care.

Here are some of the factors you should consider when choosing a technology to provide wound care telehealth services to your wound care patients.

• Ease of use: Keep in mind that many of the patients who use the technology will not be digital natives. Your technology should not present a barrier to accessing comprehensive care from qualified providers. If your patient demographic using telehealth is primarily rural, investigate what kinds of internet access is most common in their area and ensure that your patients can use the technology you choose with what they have in their homes.
• Security: Besides being compliant with HIPAA requirements, your technology should reassure patients that their personal health information is kept securely in your systems and only accessible to those who need to see or access the information. Integrations that enable data to flow directly from your telehealth system to your EHR system eliminate many security risks. Use secure log-ins for accessing any private health information.
• Photography: In wound care in particular, the ability to take, save, and compare images will be important to patient care. Your system should support taking high-quality images, evaluating progress, and comparing images across time.
• Analytics: A great technology will measure wounds, note anomalies, flag signs of infection, and anticipate healing trajectories. For patients who opt for telehealth appointments, they expect the same level of attention and care as if they were in the office.
• Fits with your current tech stack: Technology that requires additional steps to use, separate logins, or repeated data entry will create an unnecessary burden on your staff and patients. Telehealth technology that integrates with your current EHR will streamline documentation and billing.
• Follow-up options: Telehealth technology is not just for virtual appointments. It should enable patients to make, change, and cancel appointments. It should also support patient education and wellness tracking.

2. Engage and Educate a Solid Team

Assembling and training the right group of people to use the new technology is a fundamental key to success. Each person involved must understand the benefits of telehealth and their role in the patient care process. Enabling staff to function as a team and be as productive as possible means staying current with industry standards and providing ongoing training for everyone involved in the patient’s healing journey.

This team will include more than practitioners. Office staff need to know how to schedule via telehealth portals and communicate with patients through secure methods. Your billing department will also need to understand how to correctly submit billing to insurance companies that complies with most recent requirements and uses the appropriate treatment and diagnosis codes for the treatment provided. For 2026, CMS is consolidating and streamlining some of the billing processes for wound care telehealth and remote monitoring.

3. Provide Support and Resources to Patients and Families

An effective telehealth program provides a reliable way for clinicians and patients to communicate. The use of technology can sometimes be intimidating, and the support provided to staff must extend to the patients themselves. People’s confidence in the technology’s ability to engage with providers, make appointments, and receive updates from their wound care provider helps to establish and sustain a continuity of care and a strong relationship with patients and their families.

It can be difficult to build rapport via virtual meetings, but it becomes more important than ever for patients to trust your expertise. Both providers and patients will need to communicate clearly. Make sure to ask questions and give patients the opportunity to ask clarifying questions and bring up concerns so they feel supported, especially if they are not traveling to the office. Also provide them with enough resources to follow through on treatments and be able to identify issues early.

Try implementing some best practices to make patients feel more comfortable and engaged, including:

• Take the call from a quiet location so you can focus and eliminate distractions
• Record the call so you can engage with the patient during the call and update your notes after
• Explain the benefits of wound care-specific telehealth to patients and caregivers
• Have a backup plan in case technology creates a barrier
• Ensure the technology is accessible for those with hearing or visual impairments and those in rural areas with limited access to broadband

4. Include the Right Specialists in Wound Care Treatment

One of the benefits of telehealth for wound care is the ability for patients to access specialists whose practices are in large cities or far away from their homes. About one-fifth of the US population lives in rural areas, which usually have limited access to healthcare specialists and even hospitals and emergency medicine. This can result in poor outcomes for patients.

As a provider, you can build networks that benefit your patients. Here are some ways you can develop relationships with wound care providers that will deliver services virtually to your patients.

• Plan to meet other practitioners in person when you are visiting their location
• Network at professional events and focus on following up with those who have specialties that are lacking in your geographical area
• Don’t limit yourself just to private practice; take the time to get to know the providers at SNFs, physical therapy clinics, allied health, public health organizations, insurance companies, and pharmacies
• Similarly, don’t limit yourself to one title, as nurse practitioners and physician assistants can also deliver care
• Adopt multidisciplinary care models to put yourself in frequent contact with a variety of professionals with specialties and connections of their own

Knowing other professionals you can refer patients to who don’t necessarily practice in your region is becoming acceptable and appreciated by patients who struggle to find care in rural areas.

5. Lean into AI Technology That Can Support Your Telehealth Offerings

AI is transforming the way we approach documentation and patient care. Using AI technologies that are available to you will improve both wound care and telehealth significantly. Many EHR technologies are building in AI that works in the background to improve delivery of care. Ideally, this will be incorporated into the AI itself, or at least the suite of products you already use, rather than an additional piece of software you need to add to your offerings. Ensure that your EHR keeps pace with new technologies.

• Natural language processing is used in chatbots and virtual assistants that can answer questions, schedule appointments, and follow up with patients with reminders or additional educational materials. It can also create documentation by listening to the virtual appointment and noting important factors discussed during the appointment. This will give the provider and patient a written record and support accurate billing.

• Computer vision analyzes images and is particularly useful in wound care. These AI tools identify wound types, document boundaries, calculate dimensions, and use big data to make predictions about the risk factors associated with the wound. This is particularly useful for telehealth because it allows a patient to regularly have photos of their wounds analyzed by technology and for the provider to be alerted about concerns early.

• Predictive analytics programs can cross-reference large data sets with any patient’s risk factors and demographic data to predict the best course of treatment. This results in very personalized treatment plans that consider the lived reality of patients.

• Remote monitoring is possible with wearable technology and smart bandages. These technologies create a constant stream of real-time data about the wound and, when paired with predictive analytics, improve intervention. Remote monitoring is a great option for those who live in areas without access to wound care providers. The data can be made available anywhere in the world and improve communication between the provider and patient.

Because some AI is built into systems already in use, it does not increase the burden to patients. They benefit from streamlined services, improved communication, more data, and clear treatment plans without needing to invest in technology in their own homes.

Technology Streamlines Telehealth and Empowers Patients

Technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace, and adopting new technology for telehealth services has improved access, streamlined documentation, and improved outcomes. It democratizes access to specialists for those living in remote or rural areas. With remote monitoring and integrations between wearable technology and electronic health records, treatment can be more proactive and personalized.

Optimizing your telehealth technology, integrating it into workflows, and teaching patients to take advantage of the benefits it offers them will improve outcomes for patients and reduce workloads for doctors and staff.