During the last few months we have received several calls from Hospitals that have a current Wound Care Program and are looking for more cost effective models. Many are currently with a management company and are looking for alternatives. Others have been operating their own programs and are finding that they may not be meeting their financial or clinical goals. What they all have in common is an interest to improve the program, reduce costs, implement an EMR system, and know how the program is actually doing daily.In the past, there has traditionally been three ways to start and operate a Hospital Based Wound Care and Hyperbaric Program;1. Using a “Turn-Key Management Company”2. Using a Consultant.3. The Home Depot approach, Do-It-Yourself.Each has benefits and drawbacks.Traditional turn-key management offers all of the components you need usually including Hyperbaric Chambers and staff, however the cost for a hospital can often times be well over 60% of annual Gross Revenue annually. These companies usually have contract lengths of five years or longer and leave with their equipment and team at the end of a contract giving hospitals little control over their own programs. Turn-key style programs are attractive due to having the cost of Hyperbaric chambers and staff covered by the management company, however, 1 Hyperbaric patient a month can more than cover a lease on two mono-place hyperbaric chambers, and you will be paying for personnel in one way or another.Consultants appear to be more cost effective, however there price rarely includes important components your program needs for success including an Electronic Medical Record system, documentation updates, and ongoing reviews of regulations and billing to ensure your facilities continued success.The do-it-yourself approach is the least costly way of starting up a program, however the time and expense associated with developing a program from scratch is often more daunting than anticipated, and unless the hospital has an experienced employee, the cost associated with construction, development, or billing mistakes, can easily erode any savings expected. In addition, you may lack a team who is able to keep up on the latest regulatory and reimbursement changes.We felt that in order to provide the essential services of a comprehensive wound care program to every community, a more cost-effective model needed to be developed. Our model gives them control of their own programs, provides partners on-site experts for start-up and operation, implements a comprehensive Electronic Medical Record and Data Collection system, assists in the purchase of their own equipment, provides them with qualified wound care and hyperbaric specialists that they employ, minimizes contract length to as little as one year, and allows hospitals to retain their revenue by providing a low fixed price.Our program includes all of the items you need to operate your program, a customized marketing and public relations program, the first internet-based telemedicine system designed specifically for Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine, a complete Electronic Medical Record and Data system, e-wound, and the on-site expertise of our implementation and operation teams. Please Take the time to look around on our site and feel free to contact me at mike@thewca.com with your comments or insights.I truly believe that this approach is the better choice for hospitals.