Impact of digital wound care solution on healing time: A descriptive study in home health settings

Background: Chronic wounds pose significant challenges in home healthcare (HH) due to prolonged healing times and high costs. Digital wound care solutions (DWCS) have shown potential for improving healing efficiency. This study evaluated the impact of continuous DWCS use on healing times at HH organizations and explored area reduction in non-healed yet improved pressure injuries (PIs) and diabetic ulcers (DUs). Methods: This descriptive study analyzed 195,915 wound assessments from 59 HH organizations using DWCS in 2022 and 2023. Average healing time was calculated by wound type and compared across the two years, with subgroup analyses for wounds healing within three months versus longer. Improvements in non-healed DUs and PIs were further categorized by initial wound size (≤2 cm², >2 cm² for DUs; ≤4 cm², >4 cm² for PIs). Results: Average healing time for all wounds decreased significantly from 62.5 days in 2022 to 38.6 days in 2023, a 38.2% improvement (p 4 cm²) showed greater reductions, with time to improvement decreasing by 35.5 days (34.7%, p 2 cm²) saw a 32.6-day decrease in time to improvement. Conclusion: Continuous DWCS use significantly reduces healing times and improves wound area reduction, underscoring its effectiveness in enhancing wound care outcomes in HH settings. Author summary: This descriptive research evaluated the outcome of the ongoing use of a Digital Wound Care Solution (DWCS) on wound healing and area reduction within home health agencies (HHAs). Data evaluated from 195,915 wound assessments across 59 HHAs between 2022 and 2023 showed a significant improvement in average healing times by 38.2% (from 62.5 days to 38.6 days). Specifically, diabetic ulcers (DUs) and pressure injuries (PIs) demonstrated notable reduction (30.8 days for DUs and 29.3 days for PIs). Furthermore, the overall proportion of wounds successfully healed within three months improved by 8.9%, and the average time saved for wounds taking greater than three months to heal had an overall savings of 57.6 days. Non-healing wounds with improvement also achieved significant area reduction, with the area of PIs improved from 5.2 cm² to 17.7 cm² (25.4% faster), and DUs improved from 4.8 cm² to 15.3 cm² (23.8% faster). Larger wounds showed a decrease of over 30 days in time to improvement. These study findings highlight the impact of DWCS in improving the healing and management of chronic wounds, especially DUs and PIs, in home health settings.