The viability and acceptability of a Virtual Wound Care Command Centre in Australia

Michelle Barakat-Johnson; Badia Kita; Aaron Jones; Mitchell Burger; David Airey; John Stephenson; Thomas Leong; Jana Pinkova; Georgina Frank; Natalie Ko; Andrea Kirk; Astrid Frotjold; Kate White; Fiona Coyer

doi:10.1111/iwj.13782

The viability and acceptability of a Virtual Wound Care Command Centre in Australia

Int Wound J. 2022 Nov;19(7):1769-1785. doi: 10.1111/iwj.13782. Epub 2022 May 24.

Authors

Michelle Barakat-Johnson^{1

2

3

4}, Badia Kita^{1

2}, Aaron Jones^{1

5

6}, Mitchell Burger^{5

6

7

8}, David Airey⁹, John Stephenson^{10

11}, Thomas Leong¹², Jana Pinkova¹², Georgina Frank¹³, Natalie Ko¹⁴, Andrea Kirk¹⁵, Astrid Frotjold², Kate White^{1

2

16}, Fiona Coyer^{3

4

11

17}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Nursing and Midwifery Executive Services, Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
² Susan Wakil School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
³ School of Nursing, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
⁴ Centre for Healthcare Transformation, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
⁵ Health Informatics Unit, Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
⁶ Discipline of Biomedical Informatics and Digital Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
⁷ Information Communication Technology, Strategy Architecture and Innovation, Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
⁸ School of Population Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
⁹ Riverina Endovascular, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia.
¹⁰ Biomedical Statistics, School of Human and Health Services, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, United Kingdom.
¹¹ Institute of Skin Integrity and Infection Prevention, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield, United Kingdom.
¹² Nursing and Midwifery Services, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
¹³ Podiatry Department, Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
¹⁴ Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Concord Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
¹⁵ Nursing and Midwifery Services, Western Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
¹⁶ The Daffodil Centre, University of Sydney, A Joint Venture With Cancer Council NSW, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
¹⁷ Intensive Care Services, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the viability and acceptability of an innovative Virtual Wound Care Command Centre where patients in the community, and their treating clinicians, have access to an expert wound specialist service that comprises a digitally enabled application for wound analysis, decision-making, remote consultation, and monitoring. Fifty-one patients with chronic wounds from 9 centres, encompassing hospital services, outpatient clinics, and community nurses in one metropolitan and rural state in Australia, were enrolled and a total of 61 wounds were analysed over 7 months. Patients received, on average, an occasion of service every 4.4 days, with direct queries responded to in a median time of 1.5 hours. During the study period, 26 (42.6%) wounds were healed, with a median time to healing of 66 (95% CI: 56-88) days. All patients reported high satisfaction with their wound care, 86.4% of patients recommended the Virtual Wound Care Command Centre with 84.1% of patients reporting the digital wound application as easy to use. Potential mean travel savings of $99.65 for rural patients per visit were recognised. The data revealed that the Virtual Wound Care Command Centre was a viable and acceptable patient-centred expert wound consultation service for chronic wound patients in the community.

Keywords: chronic wounds; digital wound application; telehealth; virtual care; wound care.

MeSH terms

Australia
Humans
Referral and Consultation*
Trauma Centers
Wound Healing*

Abstract

MeSH terms

Grants and funding