The Importance of Wound Care Researchers and Manufactures Working with Medical Associations When Bringing New Products to the Marketplace.

Every day products and their accompanying procedures are delivered to the marketplace and touted to aid physicians and other qualified health care professionals (QHPs) in taking care of patients who have chronic wounds. Some of these products/procedures have been developed with the patient in mind and with a serious regulatory and reimbursement strategy, and other products/procedures make physicians, other QHPs, and payers scratch their heads about the true purpose of the product/procedure. Researchers and developers often only focus on gaining Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance and often plunge into the marketplace unaware of the reimbursement stumbling blocks that can prevent the expected market acceptance. Researchers and developers should simultaneously plan for FDA clearance and reimbursement from the product's inception. If a product/procedure requires a new procedure code, researchers and manufacturers should seek the help and guidance of professional medical associations to navigate the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT; CPT is a registered trademark of the American Medical Association), to make available useful new products/procedures for appropriate patients and to adequately reimburse the physician and other QHPs.