Cath Lab Digest

When a medical topic becomes a plot line for a prime-time television series, you can be sure it is making news beyond the usual healthcare circles. A recent episode of ER addressed evidence-based medicine. The new emergency department chief, eager to streamline and standardize in an effort to improve outcomes, urged staff to embrace evidence-based practice. For the lay or non-scientific person, the question of evidence-based medicine may seem simplistic — who wouldn’t want to follow a protocol that has been proven successful? The bigger query is, What is the basis for that protocol?

The quest for ensuring a sound evidence base is creating a number of “champions,” many of them wound care practitioners and interdisciplinary researchers. This month, they also are Ostomy Wound Management authors. Guest Editor Kath Bogie, DPhil, is a biomedical engineer who focuses on translational research in the prevention and treatment of chronic wounds. Dr. Bogie currently holds appointments with the Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center as a Senior Research Scientist and with the Department of Orthopaedics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine as a Senior Research Associate. Her current research incorporates multidisciplinary teams, including biomedical engineers, electrical engineers, clinicians, biologists, and statisticians, to investigate novel approaches to wound care through both clinical and basic science studies. Together with Chester H. Ho, MD, Dr. Bogie developed the concept underlying the conference, Evidence-based Practice in Wound Care, with the goal of bringing together other researchers and clinicians to discuss state-of-the-art wound care research that can be immediately translated into clinical practice.

Dr. Ho, Chief, Spinal Cord Injury, Louis Stokes Cleveland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio, and Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, has received several awards for his research, including the Case Western Reserve University Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Chairman’s Award for Research, the Department of Veterans Affairs Federal Executive Board Wings of Excellence Award, and the Veterans Health Administration Health Care Leadership Institute Executive Career Field Participant award. His insightful, evidence-based changes to facility protocol are yielding positive outcomes for his patients.

Dan Berlowitz, MD, MPH, is Director of the Center for Health Quality, Outcomes and Economic Research, Bedford VA Hospital; Professor at Boston University Schools of Public Health and Medicine; and a past-president of the National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel. His clinical background is in geriatrics and he has had extensive experience working in long-term care settings. Among his research interests are studies on assessing and improving the quality of pressure ulcer care. These activities have required a detailed understanding of the pathophysiology of pressure ulcers and how they can be best prevented.

Laura Edsberg, PhD, is Director, Natural and Health Sciences Research Center, and Director, Center for Wound Healing Research, Daemen College, Amherst NY. In addition to her numerous research activities focusing on the histology of wounds, Dr. Edsberg is a member of the Editorial Board of Ostomy Wound Management.