US Wound Registry Releases White Paper on Evaluating Real-World Data in Wound Care
The U.S. Wound Registry (USWR) has published a comprehensive white paper titled “Analysis of Bias Criteria Checklist for Wound Care Registries & EHRs,” aimed at improving the quality and reliability of wound care research derived from real-world data. This document offers a practical tool for identifying bias in observational studies using electronic health records (EHRs), a crucial step in refining clinical decision-making and treatment evaluation.
Key Highlights:
- Wound Care Burden: Chronic wounds affect 8.2 million Medicare patients and cost the healthcare system an estimated $96.8 billion annually.
- Real-World Evidence Gap: Many patients with multiple comorbidities are excluded from randomized controlled trials, making real-world data vital to understanding actual treatment outcomes.
- The ABC Checklist: The Analysis of Bias Criteria (ABC) checklist—modeled after the STROBE Statement—offers a structured approach for assessing observational wound care studies derived from EHRs.
- USWR’s Role: Founded in 2005, USWR is a CMS-approved Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR), focused on measuring, reporting, and improving quality of care in wound and podiatric medicine.
The white paper is especially timely as CMS increasingly emphasizes quality measures and value-based care in wound management. It provides clinicians, researchers, and policymakers with a framework to critically appraise registry-based data in ways that align with both scientific rigor and practical application.
Read the full white paper on the US Wound Registry website.
Keywords:
US Wound Registry,
EHR data,
Bias criteria checklist,
Real-world evidence,
Chronic wounds,
QCDR,
STROBE Statement