IMPACT On Cost - Adhesive FOAM Wound Dressing Comparisons IN HOME CARE, Long TERM CARE and HOSPITAL Settings

PURPOSE:   Effective management of exuding wounds is critical for optimized wound healing.  Acute and chronic wounds can be challenging to manage as well as costly to treat. A cost assessment was completed to estimate the economic impact of several marketed foam adhesive wound dressings (A-G) used in home care, hospitals and long term care settings.

METHODOLOGY:  An economic model was developed using inputs of dressing and supply cost from HPIS/Global Healthcare Exchange, dressing wear time based on healthy human studies using artificial wound fluid simulating a moderate to high exudating wound, nursing labor cost based on RN Bureau of Labor Statistics and dressing change time in minutes based on expert opinion. Costs were calculated for a 60 day treatment period for home care, 30 day treatment period for long term care, and 7 day treatment period for hospital settings.

RESULTS:  Due to longer wear time Dressing A was shown to have the lowest overall costs compared to the other adhesive foam dressings (B-G).For 100 home care patients with a 60 day treatment period, cost reduction ranged from $27,689 to $144,667. For 100 long term care per patients with a 30 day treatment period cost reduction ranged from $13,163 to $67,607. For 500 hospital/wound clinic patients with a 7 day treatment period cost reduction ranged from $8,164 to $48,880.

CONCLUSION:  Cost of wound care treatment is substantial. Based on the economic impact model assessments Dressing A has potential to decrease the overall cost burden for wound treatment in multiple heath care settings.