Did you ever wonder how much it really costs to treat and heal various wounds? Patients, family members, and healthcare team members often complain to me that $5/day for nutrition therapy is “too expensive.” Cost is relative, because according to the first comprehensive study of Medicare spending on wound care, it appears that an investment in medical nutrition therapy is a wise investment indeed.
A new study entitled An Economic Evaluation of the Impact, Cost, and Medicare Policy Implications of Chronic Nonhealing Wounds1, demonstrates the economic impact of chronic nonhealing wounds in the Medicare population and highlights the associated need for quality measures and reimbursement models for wound care within the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) payment policies. The study analyzed 2014 Medicare data to determine the cost of chronic wound care for Medicare beneficiaries in aggregate, by wound type, and by care setting …. read more