Workflow of Healthcare Professionals Utilizing Fluorescence Imaging for Detecting Wound Bacterial Infections

Background Many wound care specialists use fluorescence imaging (FLI) to complement the assessment of clinical signs and symptoms in the detection of wound infections, providing clinical value to patient management and healthcare economic benefits. Objectives To assist other wound care practices in adopting FLI technology, we addressed four key questions related to the activities essential for successful implementation: (1) Who is responsible for each activity? (2) How long does the overall imaging procedure take? (3) How much time does each activity require? (4) What patient and wound variables might influence the time needed for FLI? Methodology To answer these questions, surveys were collected via Qualtrics from eight physicians representing unique practices who had been trained on MolecuLight FLI (Toronto, ON, Canada) and had between 0.5 and 5 years of real-world patient experience with the technology. This study employed a cross-sectional, electronic survey design to evaluate physicians' experiences with FLI in wound care. Results The FLI workflow can be divided into 10 activities. In all practices, physicians are responsible for educating patients and obtaining informed consent. In most practices, physicians are responsible for all other activities related to FLI. The overall procedure requires an average of 28.8 minutes of physician time for a single wound. Patient variables affect procedure time. Conclusions Clinical and economic benefits, including the ability to modify wound treatment plans and reduce costs associated with managing infection-related complications, can be achieved with fluorescence imaging (FLI) to detect wound infections. This requires a relatively small time investment from physicians and is supported in some practices by nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs).