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In this 3 - Part series, we're looking at the most commonly used classification scales currently in use to classify diabetic foot ulcers, including: 

There are many scales that attempt to classify diabetic foot ulcers, but few have been validated and none have demonstarated prognistic reliabilty or accuracy with regard to healing a DFU. Some scales focus on anatomy (depth of ulcer), some include vasular assessment, and others include the presence or absence of infection.

Diabetes mellitus is an epidemic of global proportion with a steadily rising prealence of disease. There were an estimated 28.9 million (21 million diagnosed, 8.1 million undiagnosed) adults with diabetes mellitus in the United States in 2012. The prevalence of diabetes mellitus among adults has quadrupled from 1980 to 2014. This rate continues to rise, with 1.7 million new cases reported in 2012. Globally, it is estimated that there are 422 million adults with diabetes mellitus. 

This is the third and final installment in the series about how to prepare your patient for wound care treatment.

This is the second in the series about how to prepare your patient for wound care treatment. In Part 1 we covered Transfers, Patient Comfort, Pain Scales; if you missed Part 1, you can read it here 

In this series we're going to breakdown the main techniques to comfort patients when preparing for wound care treatment. 

We talked a lot this week about "casting a wide net" when it comes to marketing. Meaning, you have to get your message in front of a huge number of prospective referral sources if you want to get a lot of patient referrals coming in.

Starting in 2018 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid {CMS} Services in conjunction with the American Medical Association {AMA} recognized the need to reduce documentation requirements for providers (physicians and non-physician practitioners). In 2019, the History component consist of three requirements of Chief Compliant (CC) {reason for the visit}, History of Present Illness {HPI} and Review of Systems (ROS) noting information needs to relevant to the Chief Compliant. They approved of allowing the patient, caregiver, or ancillary staff to document the patient’s History in conjunction that the provider would review the information for relevancy while also documenting the provider reviewed stated patient information at the visit.

Question: I am interested in adding hyperbaric oxygen therapy to my clinic. What are your recommendations for staff education and management of hyperbaric medicine in my clinic?

Answer: The first step we recommend is that you attend a 40-hour UHMS and NBDHMT approved basic training in hyperbaric medicine course, Introduction to Hyperbaric Medicine. Wound Care Education Partners offers the course many times per year across the U.S., and we could also do onsite training at your facility.

Upcoming course dates and locations can be found at the following link https://www.woundeducationpartners.com/live-courses/upcoming-courses.html

As for management, we recommend that you attend our Business of Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine course. This 16-hour CME/CEU course guides you through the administration of operating and managing a profitable wound care/hyperbaric clinic. This course is offered a few times per year at various locations across the U.S. 

Find upcoming courses at the following link: https://www.woundeducationpartners.com/live-courses/the-business-of-wound-care-and-hyperbaric-medicine.html

For more information on any of our courses please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 5

Various theories have been proposed to explain why some wounds become chronic and nonhealing. Although the complete answer isnot yet available, a great deal has been learned in recent years that sheds light on this phenomenon.

Case study - Edema

History: This patient presents to the wound care clinic with a history of alcohol abuse, tobacco use, and congestive heart failure. Patient states that her legs are prone to swelling. 

South Florida in winter . . . doesn't that sound great?!

Let’s face it . . . with clinic budgets being tight, it can be really hard to request funds to attend a conference.

This Friday, January 27 at 12:00 Noon EST we are hosting a live free webinar information session to discuss affordable solutions for hyperbaric staff training.

The Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS) is holding their Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) on June 9-11 in Las Vegas, NV. The ASM is the place to meet the top industry experts and leaders in the field of the undersea and hyperbaric medicine (and no they didn't pay us to say that!).

A question that we get frequent phone calls about is regarding physician supervision of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBO). Here are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions . . .

We have just opened a new clinical classroom in North Palm Beach, FL! Here are a few photos to give you the "insider scoop".

We receive a number of phone calls each week from folks inquiring how to become a Certified Hyperbaric Technologist (CHT).  The added qualification of CHT is administrated by the National Board of Diving and Hyperbaric Medical Technology (NBDHMT).

Our industry partner, the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society (UHMS) is running a "Join and Save" campaign that will save you hundreds of dollars on online CME/CEU courses.

Clinic and Hospital Administrators: Do you need to get your staff trained in hyperbaric medicine but have a limited budget?

When treating patients with hyperbaric therapy in the monoplace chamber using 100% oxygen, the supervising hyperbaric physician may order air breaks to be provided to the patient at certain intervals during the treatment.

This article will provide you with some background on liquid oxygen, which is the most common form of bulk storage for this gas. The manufacture, storage, basic design of a liquid oxygen converter, and general safety practices will be covered. Again, keep in mind that working around oxygen has its hazards, but working around a liquid oxygen system can be outright deadly if you have not been properly trained.

Sinus and internal and external ear disorders are the most common side effects of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO₂).¹ These spaces are the cranium’s pneumatic sockets and, particularly those of the middle and inner ear, are most frequently involved in the pressure stress caused by compression and decompression maneuvers during exposure to altered pressures in the hyperbaric chamber. Barotrauma is the mechanical tissue damage produced by environmental pressure variation, and the middle ear is the most frequently involved structure in this kind of damage. According to Boyle’s law (the product of pressure and volume is a constant for a given mass of confined gas) it is easy to understand why all enclosed air cavities are more susceptible to this kind of lesion. Barotraumas can occur due to an increase or decrease of gas volume. To avoid gas volume decrease during the compression phase, the patient must perform some compensatory maneuvers aimed at inhaling and forcing gas (air or oxygen) into the nasal and sinus cavities. During decompression in the chamber or even underwater, the body’s gas expands and is expelled from cavities to the outside, usually without any active maneuver. It is essential to teach the patient about the functions of the hyperbaric chamber and the correct maneuvers of baro compensation. In this article, we will describe the main barotraumas that can occur during hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Did you know that you can purchase online CME/CEU courses in bulk at a reduced rate? Save money by purchasing a course package to address all of your continuing education needs this year, or the needs of your clinic staff members!

We conduct and announce a lot of courses in hyperbaric medicine throughout the year. Each course is a little different, with unique aspects we would like to highlight to help you decide which course might be a good fit for you to attend.

We get a lot of questions from hospital administrators and clinic directors asking what makes our Introductory Course in Hyperbaric Medicine unique. While there are many benefits to hosting hyperbaric team training through Wound Care Education Partners (WCEP), we have broken out the four most valuable reasons why hosting a live, classroom-based Introductory Course in Hyperbaric Medicine with WCEP may be right for your facility. Watch this short, insightful video to find answers before you book hyperbaric team training with any organization.

Do you worry about not having a big enough patient load at your wound care and hyperbaric medicine clinic? Do you struggle with marketing due to low budget and not enough resources?

We have big news to share with you...

Many refer to Dr. Eric Kindwall at the "Father of Hyperbaric Medicine," and his contributions to hyperbaric medicine are legendary. Dr. Kindwall was born on January 17, 1934 and passed away on January 18, 2012. For this reason, we find it fitting to highlight his contributions to the field of hyperbaric medicine during the month of January.

Do you have trouble finding a CME/CEU course that fits your exact needs? Do you find that the topics never quite apply to you, or that the format of the course doesn't fit your schedule and/or budget? Is it difficult finding a course that offers the hours you need, without charging you for extra hours that you don't need?

Today is a special blog post, not our normal format. That said, as you may know, we are co-hosting a 21-Day Diabetes and Wound Care Challenge with Best Publishing Company. Registration for the 21-Day Diabetes and Wound Care Challenge opened on Wednesday and it has been very well received! There is a lot of excitement and enthusiasm among our colleagues! Have you accepted the challenge?

Ideally, an HBO program should have a detailed policy for the diabetic patient and the immediate steps that one should take to elevate the patient’s blood sugar. However, for the patient who has a recurring problem with blood sugars that are less than the recommended pretreatment level, there are several options. One option is to contact the managing physician and explain the need for relaxed glycemic control while receiving hyperbaric therapy.

"Before anything else, preparation is the key to success." - Alexandar Graham Bell

Start planning now to earn your 2015 CME/CNE/CEU credits. Don't know how to start? Below are five questions to help you start the planning process, and watch the short video to get all the details.

We all learn about barotrauma in the Introductory Course in Hyperbaric Medicine. The question we have for you today is whether or not you remember the mechanisms of what causes barotrauma and how to properly pre-screen HBOT patients.

There has been a lot of communication in the marketplace, as well as confusion and misunderstanding, over the past few weeks regarding the final publication details and implementation notice of the Medicare Administrator Contractor’s, Novitas LCD on hyperbaric medicine for hospitals and physicians. The LCD takes effect July 24th, 2014. A major development with MAC’s and commercial insurance products recently, is their taking a stance on practice requirements. They are dictating credentialing standards. This most recent LCD from Novitas reflects that positioning as well. In this blog post we give you straight answers that will provide clarity and assist you in understanding how the revised requirements will impact you and your program staff.

Is it a goal of your clinic to achieve 100% staff credentialing? If not, your facility is missing a huge opportunity. Having a fully credentialed staff sends the message to referring physicians, patients, and your local community that meeting a national standard of high quality health care is your clinic's #1 priority. Being fully credentialed also sends the message that your clinic has a very competent clinical team. And when faced with making a patient referral, wouldn't you rather refer a patient to a facility that you trust to be competent and provide the highest quality of care?

By providing community education to potential patients you are, in the words of John Peters, incoming Executive Director of UHMS and Managing Partner of Wound Care Education Partners, “building awareness, and with that awareness we’re able to impact healing outcomes for patients in our community.”

We recently recieved this question from a prospective student. If you find yourself asking this same question, read on to learn the course of action we recommend.

We are often asked the question, "Does participation in a safety director course automatically designate me as a hyperbaric safety director?" There seems to be some midunderstanding around this issue.

Below you'll find some of the questions we get asked about the Introductory Course in Hyperbaric Medicine (ICHM) - along with our honest answers. We'll tell you everything about the program and what it takes so you can make the best enrollment decision for you.

The development of a comprehensive maintenance program for a hyperbaric system and its supporting equipment is essential for a safe and cost-effective operation. The chamber and its operational systems, the chamber room, and the equipment used in and around the chamber should be maintained at the highest operational level. This should also include the cleanliness of all elements of the interior and exterior systems.

Henry's law can be used to examine the transfer of gases into and out of a scuba diver's body. 

Question: "I would be interested in the current perspective regarding supervision of hyperbaric dives by Nurse Practitioners.

Question. Is myocardial irritability a complication frequently experienced by patients with clostridial myonecrosis?

Question. What sparked the dawn of the modern hyperbaric era?

Question: Patients present to the wound care practitioner in a myriad of ways, how does the practitioner decide how to manage the wound?

Question: Each winter many hyperbaric oxygen therapy patients have difficulty getting to their scheduled treatments due to inclement weather. What recommendations do you have for helping keep patients' treatment schedules on track when the weather is a barrier to treatment?