By Svetlana Carovski
One of the most overlooked strategies of successful wound center management is that of organization. Too often, unnecessary time is spent putting out fires all over the hospital because of the lack of organization. A well set up wound center, along with a great staff, will help to better serve patients and support a successful wound program. With Wound Care Advantage, I am currently the the Acting Program Director at The Center for Wound Healing and Limb Preservation at UCLA.
There is high turnover for program directors in many wound centers.
My experience as a wound center program director has allowed me the opportunity to network with PDs from across the country, both online and at industry events. My peers outside of WCA often have complaints about a lack of response and communications from their management company. There is also a lack of fiscal responsibility. This directly impacts job performance and satisfaction, along with the overall success of the center. Unfortunately, PD’s feel that their only choice is to quit to seek employment elsewhere. The lack of organization by other management companies leaves hospitals unprepared and vulnerable to failure.
Why structure matters.
By nature, I am a very structured person. Working within an organized wound center is essential. Our UCLA clinic is very busy, we typically see about 500 patients a month and an orderly center not only gives consistency to clinic flow, but it also leaves less room for error in our daily operations.
WCA does an amazing job of providing resources and educational material for program directors. They hold quarterly trainings where all the PDs from the centers come together for an entire day and discuss the duties as a PD and how to apply it to the team and clinic. I personally find these trainings very beneficial because I can grab other ideas from other PDs that I may not have thought about using in my clinic. Also, on top of those quarterly trainings, there are monthly PD calls where any updates in the wound care world or WCA are discussed.
Being a program director is not an easy job.
It is a demanding job and sometimes just finding the right contact person to answer a question is challenging, but WCA provides that extra reassurance that other companies may lack, which makes you feel supported. My favorite things about working for WCA are the opportunities and the autonomy you are given. It’s a very collaborative team and the company is constantly evolving, it’s an exciting place to work.
Centralized and customized reporting at the touch of a button.
Having a centralized and customized reporting system keeps things very organized and efficient. As I stated earlier, one of the main problems a PD faces is trying to find the right contact person who can address specific questions. With Luvo, you have the answers at your fingertips. WCA offers support in many areas ranging from policies and procedures to auditing. They also provide benchmark data and daily reports to make sure your center’s performance is on track and is meeting target goals. When I am asked to provide reports for the executive team it is an easy task with little required.I am in constant communication with WCA corporate. My daily interaction is mainly for audit support and sometimes for administrative direction.
Wound care management can be the same but different.
WCA is great at providing all of their centers with the personalized assistance they need. Even though our service offerings are the same across the board, every center operates in their own fashion. It’s added benefits like this that make working with WCA a pleasant experience.
