Skin and Wound Care in Lymphedema Patients: A Taxonomy, Primer, and Literature Review.

Background: Lymphedema is a condition of localized protein-rich swelling from damaged or malfunctioning lymphatics. Because the immune system is compromised, there is a high risk of infection. Infection in patients with lymphedema may present in a variety of ways.

Phlebolymphedema-a common underdiagnosed and undertreated problem in the wound care clinic.

This article focuses on the pathophysiology of phlebolymphedema, as well as proper diagnosis and treatment. It is hoped that this article will improve care of patients in wound care clinics and motivate wound care physicians to consider adding care of lymphedema patients to their clinical practice.

Wound center facility billing: A retrospective analysis of time, wound size, and acuity scoring for determining facility level of service.

Outpatient wound center facility reimbursement for Medicare beneficiaries can be a challenge to determine and obtain. To compare methods of calculating facility service levels for outpatient wound centers and to demonstrate the advantages of an acuity-based billing system (one that incorporates components of facility work that is non-reimbursable by procedure codes and that represents an activity-based costing approach to medical billing), a retrospective study of 5,098 patient encounters contained in a wound care-specific electronic medical record database was conducted. Approximately 500 patient visits to the outpatient wound center of a Texas regional hospital between April 2003 and November 2004 were categorized by service level in documentation and facility management software.