Last year, the Office of Inspector General in the Department of Health and Human Services reported on an investigation into balance billing.¹ Medicare beneficiaries with ostomies were experiencing more of a financial burden for the cost of their supplies than were other Medicare beneficiaries. Also, claims for ostomy supplies had a higher rate of nonassignment than other covered medical supplies.

The Government Affairs Committee of the United Ostomy Association (UOA), chaired by Linda Aukett, has been successful in its ongoing efforts to bring about improvements in Medicare p

When the patient is also a professional peer, treatment has the potential to get... complicated. But Laurie Rappl, PT, CWS, is one patient and peer who is grateful for the care she receives from fellow ET nurse Laura Shafer, RNC, BSN, CWOCN, who modestly disclaims the impact she has on patients and protocols as just one of the rewards of being part of an effective wound care team.

Earlier in her career, Laura, a graduate of nursing programs at Clemson and Emory universities, was a medical/surgical clinical instructor at Dekalb Medical Center in Decataur, Ga. Because she missed treating p

Classical evaluation of a wound consists of descriptors of location, size (length, width, and depth), presence or absence of drainage, odor, and swelling. A description of the periwound is also important with regard to swelling, color, and warmth. Although probing wounds is useful to evaluate undermining, tracts, and foreign bodies, routinely ascertaining wound volume has been difficult. Most wounds can be evaluated using standard wound assessment techniques.

Additionally, physical examination of various parts of the body includes inspection, auscultation, percussion, and palpation. Alth

The presence of pressure ulcers in elderly patients is a widespread problem that results in considerable healthcare costs.^1-3 For example, the incidence of Stage II and worse pressure ulcers has been reported to be more than 30% in nursing home residents.¹ Therapeutic ultrasound (US) is one of several treatment methods used to enhance healing of pressure ulcers, including sharp debridement, wound cleansing, wound dressings, and electrical stimulation.³ Under in vivo and in vitro conditions in animal studies, ultrasound has been shown to have benef