Long-Term Care Survey Alert

Wound Care Payment Tip

Is a resident's wound not responding to conventional therapy? Medicare will cover electrical stimulation as part of a therapy plan of care to treat the following types of wounds:

 

  •  Chronic Stage III or Stage IV pressure ulcers,
     
  •  Arterial ulcers,
     
  •  Diabetic ulcers, and
     
  •  Venous stasis ulcers.
     
    Medicare will only cover electrical stimulation after "appropriate" standard wound care has been tried for at least 30 days without producing measurable signs of wound healing. For more coverage and billing information, see  program memo AB-03-093 at
    www.cms.gov/manuals/pm_trans/ab03093.pdf.