Background
Chronic wounds are a silent epidemic in Australia. They are under-recognised as a public health issue, and their health and economic effects are poorly understood. In this study, we have evaluated whether utilising a specialist transdisciplinary wounds service is a cost-effective approach to managing wounds, compared to using routine healthcare services.
Methods
Cost, quality of life, healing outcomes and health service utilisation data was prospectively collected over a 3 month period from participants receiving services at a specialist clinic. To characterise routine services, the same variables have been estimated for the 12 months prior to enrolment in the clinic. All data was collected to inform a Markov model, where the expected changes to cost and quality of life associated with using the specialist service are compared to routine services for a hypothetical cohort of patients in the Australian setting.
Results
Patients accessing treatment at the specialist clinic show larger improvements in quality of life and achieve more complete healing of their wound compared to those utilising routine services. Increased costs associated with the specialist clinic are offset by savings that are realised as a result of faster healing, decreased recurrence and fewer complications requiring hospitalisation. Overall, utilising a specialist service is a cost-effective approach to wound management.
Conclusion
Utilising expert wound management services delivers improvements to health, quality of life and economic outcomes when compared with routine services. Investment in expert, targeted services represents good value for money in the Australian setting and should be prioritised by decision makers.