A unique communication/data tracking tool for surgical site infection in the community.

Author(s):
Corrine McIsaac, Health Outcomes Worldwide; Rosemary Kohr, Health Outcomes World Wide; James Craig, Health Outcomes World Wide

Background:

While post-op surgical patients are carefully monitored within hospital for infection, once discharged home, no consistent surveillance is maintained.  Surgical site infections (SSI) are identified as occurring within 30 days of surgery or for any surgery requiring appliance insertion (e.g., Hip/knee replacement), an SSI can occur up to 365 days post surgery (Centre for Disease Control, 2015). Maintaining surveillance for this length of time is daunting. Yet it needs to happen, given up to 84% of SSIs occur post-discharge. Mortality rates for surgical patients are double that of non-surgical patients (and the mortality rate increases 4 fold with advancing age). While these factors alone should provide an impetus for improvement in SSIS, the staggering cost of more than 7 Billion dollars annually in the United States, related to hospital readmissions and post-discharge care for surgical wounds, is a reminder of the increased healthcare resources required to manage SSIs.

Hypothesis:

A Canadian-based software technology company has developed a unique approach to surveillance of surgical wounds—with a focus on the post-operative homecare setting.

Methods:

Surgeons and their patients both have unique identifiers to link to a secure Cloud-based site where patients enter information and a photo of their surgical wound. The surgeon can then track and manage their patients who have been discharged home.

Results:

The ability to follow the progress of a wound once the patient is discharged, gives surgeons quicker response-time when infection is suspected, as well as the opportunity to provide reassurance to patients and their families.

Conclusions:

Giving patients and their families peace of mind in a stressful experience such as surgery (and the post-surgical recuperation) through using this simple and effective communication and assessment tool supports the concept of patient-centred quality care, while ensuring accurate SSIS occurs.