Dr. Caroline Fife and Dr. Christopher Apostol join us to explore the rising cost of skin substitutes in wound care, which Aledade data suggests is a tenfold increase in the last three years. Dr. Fife explains that rising costs are due to an increase in both cost of the product and increased usage, and she addresses the real concerns such as the way many skin substitutes are exempt from FDA review, offer rebates or discounts to clinicians and how some Medicare payment models incentivize the use of more expensive treatments. Dr. Apostol also notes how wound care has evolved through the lens of primary care, including an increase in specialist utilization and mobile wound care teams.
