The Wound Intelligence System: early issues and findings from multi-site tests

The purpose of this manuscript is to address a gap in our efforts to incrementally improve wound care practice through evidence-based practice. The Pressure Sore Status Tool (PSST) provides data to extend evidence-based practice beyond clinical trials and into the clinical area itself. The computerized PSST was evaluated over one year through over 70 beta sites. Two studies which were part of that evaluation period are described which give a comparative analysis of wound stage and PSST scores, and similarities and differences in wound characteristics of four types of wounds: arterial/ischemic ulcers, neuropathic ulcers, pressure ulcers, and venous ulcers. In the first study, a relationship between PSST scores and staging scores for the presenting wound was present, indicating promise for the utilization of the PSST as an alternative to staging scores for describing changes in wound status. However, in the second study, clear difference was not noticeable between the four wound types, suggesting that discriminations regarding wound type may not be able to be made from PSST assessments. The goal of these studies was to provide feedback on the use of the computerized PSST, thereby providing feedback based on objective outcomes of the practice of clinicians themselves.