Many hospitals seeking to introduce a wound care center elect to outsource its development, introduction and management. The central attraction to this model is an accelerated pathway to clinical operations as management companies have informational “cookie cutter” tools readily in place. Another attraction is that companies may offer to capitalize the hyperbaric chambers.

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In time, increasing numbers of hospitals begin to question this model’s ongoing value equation. The majority of direct revenue exits the hospital, along with sizable upfront and periodic management fees. A promise of increased indirect revenue is not always forthcoming and difficult to quantify. This model invariably fails to consolidate wound care services throughout the hospital, particularly for inpatients and those transitioning to outpatient status. In essence, the wound center is more a company franchise than an integrated hospital department.

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Management fees, certainly those related to provision of capital equipment, are false economy. The hospital is essentially reimbursing company overhead with nothing to show for it at contract term. As hyperbaric chambers have an initial 20-year service life, they are one of the better long-term medical technologies deserving of hospital ownership.

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Management companies invariably maintain proprietary databases, where patient data is stored. These are closely guarded programs lacking client hospital access, and it is here that companies profess to generate “world class research”, when they do nothing of the sort. Through careful manipulation, they do, however, create the illusion of outstanding healing rates and accelerated healing times. 

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Having relied exclusively on a management company, there is occasional trepidation for hospitals to consider “going it alone.” This is often the case with the hyperbaric chamber’s operational and safety demands.

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NBS has all of the necessary transitional solutions. They have allowed numerous hospitals to seamlessly evolve to clinical and cost-effective self-management.