Mckesson Announces The Release Of Horizon Homecare Wound Advisor
Atlanta, GA - McKesson recently announced the release of Horizon Homecare Wound Advisor , an integrated disease management solution for centralized and in-home care that extends the reach of wound specialists, helping lead to higher-quality homecare at less cost. Using the solution, organizations can identify patients who need evaluation based on their current wound status (decline, new referral or existing referral) and provide ‘one-click' access to the patients' histories, assessment findings and digital wound images from a central location. This allows Wound Ostomy Continence (WOC) or specialty clinicians to provide their expertise and experience to the care of a large wound population.
"Wound care is one of the most expensive services homecare organizations provide, and nearly half of a typical population has one or more wounds," said Karen Utterback RN, MSN, vice president of product management for McKesson Provider Technologies' homecare and hospice group. "Wound heal rates improve by as much as 50% when a WOCN or wound specialist is involved in the patient's care. Combine this with the shortage of clinicians and the expense of retaining WOC and other wound specialty clinicians, and it becomes obvious that expanding their reach has the potential to dramatically impact patient outcomes and the agency's bottom line."
In addition to centralized care, Horizon Homecare Wound Advisor assists clinicians at the point of care with a standardized, comprehensive wound assessment, wound image(s) and pertinent patient information including education, supply use and treatment protocols. Assessment responses trigger the system to assign evidence-based wound protocols, and the necessary physician orders to support the care process. The solution provides visual cuing to the clinician for patients in decline based on negative changes in the wound assessment findings.
"As both a leadership representative from Advanced Home Care and a WOC nurse, I believe I could not have been better supported by the McKesson design team during the development phase for Horizon Homecare Wound Advisor," said Laurie Lovejoy McNichol, director of practice and quality for Advanced Home Care in High Point, N.C. "It has been a wonderful professional experience, during which I felt my suggestions were valued and my perspective appreciated. As our agency moves forward with Horizon Homecare Wound Advisor, I am excited to see how this product will help us achieve the standard outcomes we seek for patients with wounds in the future."
"Horizon Homecare Wound Advisor is going to allow our company to take a giant leap forward in our ability to manage our wound care population," said Grace Flynt, Regional Manager for Deaconess HomeCare in Hattiesburg, Miss. "We will have a way to apply the nursing process to every wound patient quickly and efficiently, allowing us to heal wounds faster, manage the cost and improve our early-intervention efforts."
Horizon Homecare Wound Advisor is an integrated part of McKesson's Horizon Homecare suite of products. The integration with the core system enables all wound care information to become a part of the patient's existing electronic medical record.
"Horizon Homecare Wound Advisor is the latest example of McKesson's dedication to giving clinicians and agencies the tools they need to ensure successful outcomes for patients and improving the utilization of agency resources," says Chris Dollar, vice president and general manager in McKesson's homecare and hospice division.
SOURCE: McKesson