Balancing the Pros and Cons of Evolving Wound Care Technology 

From paper-based patient records and measuring wounds with a ruler to innovations like voice-enabled artificial intelligence (AI) assistance and predictive modeling, technology has revolutionized the wound care industry’s practice, people, and profession.  

The promise of technology encompasses improved efficiencies, better care, and fewer administrative demands for providers. It can also undermine those very things if not supported and understood by the people who will use it, seamlessly incorporated into workflow, and deployed effectively. Since the inception of technological solutions and examples that highlight their many benefits, there have also been tales of increasing burdens, utilization headaches, and exacerbations of the inefficiencies that tech was meant to solve. As systems grow more complex, these concerns grow: in a recent Net Health and Censuswide survey of 200 wound care providers, three in 10 (30%) respondents said that interoperability of systems would offer the greatest challenge for their wound care organizations over the next six months. 

Could technology, meant to provide a solution to impacted wound care specialists, instead be a contributor to burnout? Let’s take a step back.  

How Does Technology Contribute to Burnout? 

There is a wide range of technological applications used in wound care today. According to a Health Data Management article, a review of research published by the National Library of Medicine identified several factors that may contribute to burnout. These include: 

• Poor usability and interface design can turn beneficial tools into sources of frustration. Clunky or non-intuitive technology can create additional work, leading to inefficiency and dissatisfaction among users.  
• Lack of integration with existing systems poses another significant challenge. Issues with data silos and fragmented information can impede the seamless flow of information, leading to miscommunication and errors.  
• Communication and coordination problems. Technology is meant to enhance communication and coordination among healthcare providers. However, when it fails, it can aggravate existing problems.  
• Training and learning curves. The introduction of new technologies requires substantial time and effort for training. Steep learning curves can add to stress and reduce productivity.  
• Hidden costs, especially in smaller facilities and private practice — such as those for training, support, and integration, can also strain resources and contribute to burnout. 

According to a recent Net Health and Censuswide survey, 30% of wound care providers said system interoperability would be the most significant challenge for their wound care organizations over the next six months.

Most wound care providers can relate to items on that list in one way or another. While some issues stem from the technology’s design, many arise from gaps in education, training, experience, acceptance, and integration into daily tasks. Consider how often tech-savvy colleagues on the wound care team must pause to assist those less familiar with the technology or even take on their tasks. These scenarios highlight that the issue isn’t the technology itself — it’s about how we use it, the time we invest in learning, and how fully we embrace the change to a tech-based solution. 

Such a statement might create debate, but it’s something to consider. Wound care providers have many tasks to perform in a workday. They must connect with patients, obtain relevant clinical information, measure and assess wounds, input data into the EHR, ensure information is documented appropriately, generate reports, etc. And yes, those tasks take time.  

However, let’s explore why they might take an excessive amount of time or why errors may occur that require redoing actions. It could be because we are using old habits with new tech. For example, we may use a digital camera to take an image of the wound and then scan, copy, and upload the data into the EHR, a time-consuming process that can lead to errors. Or perhaps only some team members use a digital imaging platform to assess the wound; several still measure manually, leading to inconsistent measurement and missed opportunities to identify at-risk wounds or collaborate fully with colleagues. Incidents like this take time, cause frustrations, and contribute to burnout. 

Technology: It’s How You Use It 

Finding the right balance between technology, utilization, and workflow is essential to prevent provider burnout. Addressing the most burdensome issues that likely cause burnout is the starting point. Key areas to focus on in wound care technology include: 

• Improving Usability and User Experience: Selecting user-friendly technologies and involving end users in the design process can mitigate usability issues. Ensuring staff are comfortable and confident with their tools is critical for successful implementation. 
• Emphasizing Workflow: Inefficient practices and a lack of advanced technologies can extend simple processes from a few minutes to 30 or 40 minutes. When workflow and technology work together, providers save time, reduce stress, and can focus more on direct patient care. 
• Focusing on Interoperability: New technologies must integrate seamlessly with existing systems. Evaluating interoperability before implementation can prevent data silos and ensure smooth workflows, which is crucial for effective communication and coordination. Perhaps more importantly, keeping in mind that interoperability includes the tech-to-human connection. For example, how will nurses effectively use the technology to provide care across inpatient and outpatient areas? The answer could be as simple — and effective — as a printed PDF.  
• Ensuring Proper Training and Support: Comprehensive and ongoing training programs are vital. Providing adequate support to staff ensures they can utilize innovative technologies without added stress. Continuous education and troubleshooting support are crucial for maintaining a productive and positive work environment. 

Whether it’s an EHR, digital platform, or other solution, staff buy-in is essential to ensure technology is part of a comprehensive solution that meets all organizational goals, including burnout prevention. Addressing the preferences of clinicians of all ages, whether tech-savvy or tech-averse, is crucial for widespread adoption and satisfaction: encouraging technology “champions” in an organization that can bring tech-averse peers into the fold, showing them how to adjust their routines and leverage the technology most effectively. Taking advantage of the capabilities of the technology as it relates to the unique needs of wound care and wound care nurses is key. If your software makes wound assessment faster, evangelize the value of it. 

To that end, it’s important to focus on what motivates both groups: enhancing efficiency, reducing time spent on administrative tasks, and increasing time available for direct patient care. Implementing technology specific to wound care, such as specialty wound care EHRs, ensures solutions align perfectly and transforms them into problem-solvers rather than sources of challenges. 

Wound care experts will tell you one of the first places to start when looking to improve wound care outcomes and efficiencies is workflow. What are your processes? Where are your problem areas? What steps are missed frequently? Common breakdowns include:  

• Delays in notification and/or treatment: Were the patients’ wounds photographed and documented promptly upon admission to the facility? 
• Missed documentation of a wound: Did a busy admission process lead to the inability to properly photograph and document a wound found present on admission? 
• Untimely medical record management (e.g., missing recording wound data): Was there a time-lapse in coding the wound present on admission due to the prolonged method of manually capturing and documenting the wound? 
• Inefficient workflows impacting compliance guidelines and best practices: Were there late consults and inadequate documentation that prevented the coder from reviewing the wound information appropriately and in a timely manner? 

What’s another common mistake? Often, it’s looking for quick solutions. In the quest for solutions, there is a temptation to gravitate to technologies that promise fast and easy fixes or make bold claims. These technologies may create more problems than they fix, especially with incorrect integrations, inadequately trained users, or neglected ongoing support and maintenance. It’s time to consider that the best technology is often the type that specializes in the unique needs of wound care, integrates seamlessly into complex daily operations, and offers data-backed and comprehensive support while ensuring defensible documentation that can optimize reimbursement.  

Keys to Technology: Proven and Practical  

With that in mind, let’s look at some proven solutions that can make the workday lives of wound care providers a little easier by tackling the clinical and administrative issues that can cause frustration. Predictive analytics, for example, uses wound-specific databases and AI to identify at-risk wounds, providing clinicians with real-time data for better and faster decision-making. How does it help stressed providers? By reducing the uncertainty and workload associated with wound management, predictive technology allows providers to make more informed, timely decisions and focus on patient care rather than administrative tasks. 

One of the more promising innovations on the market is ambient clinical documentation, which incorporates voice-enabled AI assistants into EHRs and promises to revolutionize documentation processes, allowing clinicians to focus more on patient care. Research indicates clinicians spend much of their day on manual documentation within EHR systems. This administrative burden contributes to clinician burnout and exacerbates staffing shortages, particularly in fields like wound care. An AI-powered ambient documentation solution will streamline workflows by capturing patient-provider conversations in real time and automatically generating clinical notes, significantly reducing clinicians’ time on paperwork. Alleviating administrative burdens can help to lower burnout rates and improve clinician well-being. The Net Health and Censuswide survey found a willing, if slightly skeptical, audience for AI and scribes: over three-quarters (76%) of clinicians feel positive overall when thinking about using AI in their wound care organization, with a quarter (25%) feeling very positive. The same sentiment exists for ambient documentation/AI scribes: 37% feel very positive about this, and 44% feel somewhat positive about using this technology.  

Emerging innovations such as precision medicine, advancements in negative pressure wound therapy, 3D printing for customized skin grafts and dressings, and battery-powered bandages that monitor healing status are also revolutionizing wound care. Trusted partners who assist in seamlessly integrating these fresh solutions and provide expert consulting can minimize disruptions, reduce frustrations and burnout, and ensure that promising therapies reach patients promptly. 

Partnering for Success 

Finding internal and external resources to help champion technology is a crucial step in ensuring effective adoption. Trusted partners can help by listening, collaborating, and providing ways to help increase adoption. That includes training designed for an organization’s unique needs, ensuring that staff, regardless of their experience level, can effectively integrate novel solutions into their workflow. This incorporates helping those unfamiliar with mobile digital assessment tools transition from traditional wound-measurement methods (e.g., rulers) and aiding tech-savvy staff in fully integrating advanced technologies into their daily workflow. While this seems straightforward, it can be more complicated when considering perspective and experience. For example, the Net Health survey found that while over three-quarters (76%) of respondents felt positive about using technology to measure wounds, more thought that it would make for a faster assessment vs. a more accurate measurement.  

As organizations plan for the future, prioritizing the fundamentals of effective technology adoption is key. This means partnering with a technology provider that is not only data-driven but also delivers comprehensive solutions and stays ahead of regulatory and industry changes. In the complex world of wound care, specialized solutions tailored to the unique demands of the profession are essential. They help ensure compliance, optimize revenue, and drive advancements in healthcare. The most effective technology providers will inspire trust and confidence among all who rely on their solutions. 

Technology as a Part of the Burnout Solution 

There’s more to managing burnout than technology, but it’s a critical part of an evolving industry faced with pressure from multiple fronts: declining reimbursement, a shrinking workforce, and an epidemic of wounds. Technology that meets the unique needs of the specialty and is integrated into larger systems can truly help healers do what they do best: heal. Net Health found that, according to wound care workers, the most effective technology for reducing burnout was smart documentation, compliance, and billing tools (e.g., streamlined EHR systems); AI and predictive analytics for decision support; and technology that was integrated across systems.  

A growing number of organizations are taking decisive steps in other ways, as well. Some larger hospitals and health systems have built departments and programs aimed at addressing the issue. Even smaller clinics and private practices are taking note of the problem. Successful programs share a few key elements: they prioritize mental health support, streamline administrative tasks, manage workloads, and foster a supportive community. No matter the size of the organization, remember the importance of showing not just the organization but that people care by: 

• Regularly checking in with staff 
• Taking note of changes in behavior 
• Encouraging open communication 
• Recognizing and rewarding hard work to help mitigate burnout 

The issue of provider burnout is not a problem that will be solved overnight or with one-and-done approaches. Burnout among wound care providers is a multifaceted problem that demands comprehensive, long-term solutions. When implemented effectively, technology offers a promising path to address core issues contributing to stress and burnout. For wound care providers, this evolution can mean the difference between a career burdened by stress and anxiety and a desire to leave the profession to one that is both professionally fulfilling and personally sustainable. 

By creating a comprehensive and robust approach to burnout, wound care practices can better prevent it and set a new standard for care delivery — where clinicians can thrive, and patients receive the highest quality of care possible.