Reflections on 20 Years in Wound Care: Lessons from the Frontlines of Technology

By Jon Blanciak, Regional Account Executive, Net Health

Over the last 20 years, I’ve learned much about wound care and the people who work in it. While my career didn’t begin in wound care, it has been my home for over 20 years. I got a degree in Industrial Management from Carnegie Mellon University, and my first job was in software sales. On that job, I discovered this disruptive startup in Pittsburgh called Net Health selling technology to wound care providers and nurses, and I’ve been there ever since.

It’s been an adventure, especially in the early days, witnessing some of the realities of wound care, complete with unsettling sights, sounds, and smells. While I know people who have fainted at the sight of some wounds, it never bothered me. I was fascinated. The people in this industry and the difference they are able to make with patients hooked me from the start.

I remember early on, I visited a wound care facility in Columbus, Ohio. It was eye-opening to see a man in a wheelchair be lifted out of that chair to receive care for a large and painful pressure injury (PI). Witnessing the pain and discomfort—and the care his doctors and nurses provided—was incredibly impactful. It made me realize that the essence of my job is to help dedicated wound care providers reconnect with what they want and need to do: care for patients, not spending endless hours staring at a computer screen and documenting the care provided.

Oh, The Changes We’ve Seen

When I began my wound care career, the industry was starting to recognize its own unique needs. It soon became apparent that general electronic health records (EHRs) built for hospitals or doctors’ offices weren’t going to cut it. Wound care requires technologies tailored to its complexities, which means software and other solutions specifically designed for its needs. I was excited to be part of one of the first specialty EHRs for wound care on the market, and we rapidly built our presence from there. Today, such specialty EHRs add tremendous value: regulatory-compliant documentation, outcomes tracking, reporting, national benchmarking, coding support, and more, while integrating everything from scheduling to clinical documentation back with the general hospital system. 

Recent innovations have further revolutionized wound care. Digital platforms now allow smartphones to transform into 3D imaging devices capable of measuring wounds with incredible accuracy and speed. These images integrate seamlessly into the EHR, creating a robust platform that connects wound care providers with the broader healthcare team.

While we’ve seen many advancements on the technology side of wound care, there have been fewer advancements on the clinical side. Instead, the focus has shifted to leveraging technology for better documentation, tracking, and assessment to meet regulatory and payer requirements.

To cope with demands, caregivers seek tools that help them spend less time “nursing the chart” and more time caring for the patient. Digital platforms and other industry innovations have made that possible, reducing the burden of documentation while enhancing accuracy and insight.

Pain Points Wound Care Providers Face

Finding ways to help wound care providers is one of the most important things I’ve spent my career learning to do. Through countless conversations with clinicians, I’ve come to understand the key challenges they face every day. These pain points reflect the complexity of wound care and the gaps that technology can fill.

Accuracy and Variability

Measuring wounds is notoriously tricky. Each clinician may approach it differently, leading to inconsistencies that can affect patient outcomes. As one client told me, “There’s enough variation in the wounds themselves—why add variation in how we measure and document them?” By standardizing wound measurements and documentation through technology, we’ve been able to eliminate this variability.

Efficiency and Ease of Use

Wound care workflows are often cumbersome, with too many steps to document, photograph, and measure wounds. Clinicians are spending precious time on tasks that could be streamlined, detracting from patient care.

Information Silos

Traditional hospital systems often silo information, making it hard to see the big picture. Photos and data are locked away in individual patient charts, with no way to trend data over time or generate actionable insights. This lack of transparency limits care teams’ ability to make informed decisions.

Lack of Transparency

Silos are related to another challenge providers face: lack of insights and transparency into the data and chart notes surrounding patient wounds. Providers take a photo of a wound and upload it into the patient chart. Often, there’s no reporting capability, longitudinal trending capability, or accessible data. There’s no insights layer, executive reporting, or centralized resource to enable providers to see what’s happening for all the wounds seen throughout the hospital.

Compliance and Regulatory Demands

Meeting compliance and regulatory requirements can be an overwhelming challenge for wound care providers. For instance, adhering to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) guidelines for wound documentation and coding is essential. This demands considerable time and resources, detracting from direct patient care. The complexity increases administrative burdens and adds stress, making it challenging to focus on providing high-quality care.

Meeting the Challenges that Keep Wound Care Leaders Up at Night

Other challenges loom large; and these all keep wound care providers up at night. Among them are hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPIs), litigation risks, referral leakage, and patient readmissions.

PIs, in particular, present a costly and reputational risk. Here’s why: Often, PIs are present on admission rather than acquired in the hospital. Yet, hospitals have just 24 hours to document a wound’s presence; otherwise, they “own” it. If it’s a Stage III or IV injury or becomes one, that PI is classified as a “never event” by CMS, meaning the hospital won’t get reimbursed and could face significant penalties. Technology like digital imaging has been vital to help hospitals ensure wounds are documented accurately and promptly, preventing these scenarios.

Litigation is another concern. Today’s Wound Clinic reports that PIs are the second most common cause of civil suits alleging medical malpractice. PI lawsuits often hinge on whether a wound was present upon admission. With advanced wound imaging, we’ve helped hospitals prove the presence of wounds, saving millions in potential settlements.

Addressing Industry Challenges through Innovative Technology

One of the most exciting aspects of my role is helping providers understand that there are solutions to the many challenges they face. With today’s technology, wound care departments can access central command centers, integrating wound care data from all areas of the hospital. Clinicians in the ER, ICU, or any other unit can snap a photo of a wound, which is immediately shared with the wound care team. They can then take prompt action and by noting the wounds to monitor. This approach eliminates delays, prioritizes care, and reduces clinician burnout.

For example, a photo taken with this application in the ER might flag a wound as an abrasion, freeing up the wound care team to focus on more severe cases. This level of triage improves efficiency and ensures that resources and staff are allocated where they’re needed most.

Maybe a patient from a nursing home comes to the emergency room with severe respiratory distress. The nurse also notes a few wounds on the patient’s backside, and a quick photo is taken and marked as present on admission. This simple action prevents the wound from becoming a never event. Most importantly, it prevents putting the patient at further risk of pain.

Innovative wound care assessment platforms play a crucial role, too. Having analyzed hundreds of thousands of wounds, predictive analytics technology can flag those most at risk of deterioration, enabling clinicians to intervene early. The use of predictive analytics is becoming an essential tool, helping providers prevent Stage II wounds from progressing to Stage III or IV.

The goal of all these innovations is to offer a robust insight layer that revolutionizes wound care through innovation and strategic data integration.

Results that Speak Volumes

The impact of these technologies is tangible. Hospitals using advanced wound care platforms have reduced hospital-acquired pressure injuries by up to 83%, saving millions of dollars in penalties and decreased reimbursement.

One hospital was able to resolve a pressure injury lawsuit within hours by proving, with photographic evidence, that the wound was present upon admission. Without that technology, the case might have dragged on for years, costing the hospital an average settlement of $500,000 plus the cost of unreimbursed care.

And it’s not just money; technology is able to create efficiencies that lead to time savings for these practitioners. Programs that don’t incorporate leading technology or don’t fully tap into its capabilities often spend needless hours on tasks like wound documentation. In some cases, this process takes upwards of 40 steps. Automated platforms can dramatically reduce those steps, saving hours a day and giving providers more time for direct patient care.

Lessons Learned over Two Decades

Two decades in wound care have taught me that innovation like this is essential, but so is foresight. When I speak with potential customers, I encourage them to ask: Will this tool meet our needs, not just today, but five years from now?

AI-powered solutions and features like predictive analytics are game-changers, supporting the many tasks today’s wound care providers must complete, from wound care assessment to documentation, benchmarking, reporting, future planning, and more.  

Grateful for Inspiring Relationships

One of the things I’m most proud of over the past 20 years is that I’ve continued to work with some of the same clients and facilities. The people who treat wounds are some of the most dedicated and compassionate professionals I’ve ever met. They’re true-blue, salt-of-the-earth individuals who inspire me every day.

It’s been an honor to be part of this industry, and I look forward to seeing how technology and innovation will continue to shape its future. In the end, it’s about more than just software or systems—it’s about helping providers access tools that help people heal. And that’s a mission that is well worth a career.