Wound Management in Hospitals: Product Innovations Before Process Enhancement

At the 4th Healthcare Procurement Congress on December 6th and 7th 2012 in Berlin buyers, health economists, executive directors and legal practitioners discussed the implementation of advanced processes in hospitals and the procurement of more innovative products.

The advantages of introducing innovative products compared to process enhancements were pointed out. Prof Wilfried von Eiff, Münster, explained, „In contrast to long-term efforts of process enhancement, real product innovations are able to generate an immediate benefit for the institution.“ Furthermore, they are easier to implement.

Confirming this, Corinna Mandl, Head of Outpatient Wound Management at Klinikum München Pasing and Perlach, portrayed her experiences with a wound spray developed on a hemoglobin-basis which overcomes hypoxia as the cause of most chronic wounds. The wound spray was developed at a German university and is being produced by SastoMed.

Comment: In the last year the average residence time in hospitals was reduced by 0.2 days to 7.7 days. Since the implementation of case-based lump sums hospitals are forced to implement a strict process enhancement regarding cost cutting while simultaneously enhancing quality of supply. Because the treatment of chronic wounds is not only a medical challenge but a logistic challenge as well (due to the resources needed while treating chronic wounds) innovative products play an important role in this matter. The benefits are clear: On the one hand, innovative products – as the wound spray – can help reduce average residence time in hospitals. On the other hand, they can help accelerate the healing process.

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