Prescribers Advanced Wound Care Management Course
Wound Care Legislation
APWH Physician on the Floor Announcement
November 30, 2015
Academy of Physicians in Wound Healing (APWH)
From: Robert Bartlett, MD, CPE, FAPWHc
To: APWH Membership and Wound Care Community
Re: Important announcement
I am very pleased to announce I have accepted the position of the “APWH Physician on the Floor.” The demand for cost-effective care has never been greater which means we must make the smartest decisions possible. By creating the “Physician on the Floor”, the APWH is providing a professional resource to assist legislators in the US Congress to make well-informed, “smart” decisions for wound care services which benefit patients and providers alike.
This is a unique, proactive strategy for wound care. Historically, the practicing wound care community is poorly positioned in the evolutionary time line of policies affecting care. Busy practitioners lack the time or connections to be involved with “proposed” changes. Typically, the wound care community learns of the proposed changes late in the process and is relegated to the simple roles of opinions and comments. The APWH goal is to transform the wound care provider’s role from “commentator” to “co-author and advisor” for new policies, proposed legislation, and policy reform by all relevant government offices such as the FDA, DHHS, CMS, etc. In a phrase the APWH wishes to be “proactive, not reactive for wound care reform”.
The Academy founders and leaders have fulfilled their roles by meeting this APWH objective. So please assist me in making this program successful. “Numbers matter” as they provide an index for the level of concern and commitment by the wound care community. Please make sure you maintain an active membership or join our organization. I would ask each of you to encourage colleagues who provide wound care as a part of their practice to visit our website, join organization and stay informed on the issues affecting the future of wound care. As one philosopher observed “I have a keen interest in the future because that is where I plan to spend the rest of my life”.