Wound Care in Transition: What Does 2026 Look Like for Mobile and Traditional Businesses?
Key Clinical Summary
- Reimbursement shifts demand smarter visit optimization: With cuts, proposed LCDs, and the WISeR model rollout, organizations must reassess each encounter to maximize value and financial stability.
- Practices and organizations should know about and use reimbursable tools effectively: Understanding available reimbursable products is essential—but proper utilization, documentation, and billing determine whether they truly support revenue.
- Operational efficiency is now a competitive necessity: Thriving through policy changes requires streamlined workflows, strong documentation processes, and productivity-focused operations.
Transcript
Please note: This content is a direct transcript, capturing the authentic conversation without edits. Some language may reflect the flow of live discussion rather than polished text.
I think we're going to see a huge impact in the mobile space based on all of the changes that are coming down in 2026. One of the big changes that I think we're going to see the most is there's going to be a huge emphasis on documentation and really proving that what we're doing is medically necessary. I feel that there is always an opportunity for us to do better with documentation, but with the introduction of the WISeR Model, with the introduction of the new potential decrease in reimbursements for the CTPs, I really truly feel that we are going to have to have everything buttoned up, all of our T's crossed, our I's dotted, and really be able to submit these reimbursements as quickly as possible and really try to avoid denials at all costs. I feel that we're not going to have any choice but to change with all of the new regulatory infrastructure being placed on us, a lot of the mobile space has kind of been targeted with this new rollout of reimbursement reductions, potential national LCDs, as well as the introduction of the Wiser model to the six states that they're potentially rolling that out to.
We're really going to have to reevaluate what we're doing from a business standpoint. Are we enhancing every single visit? Are we stacking as much as possible during those visits in order to make those incredibly lucrative for us, as well as making sure that those patients are getting the very best care as quickly as humanly possible? Is our documentation up to par? Are we hyper-focused on making sure that we have the correct documentation the first time around? Are we collecting as much data as possible? Are we utilizing additional clinical value drivers that will help support why we're using the advanced modalities? I think there's a lot of great reimbursement opportunity out there still in the wound care space, especially coming from the mobile world, and I feel like there is a lack of knowledge around what else is out there that you can actually utilize and still get reimbursed on.
Understanding the products, the tools that are on the market currently that can help support you in the wake of the changes with the skin substitute reimbursement is going to be crucial to being able to stabilize and make it through the changes and come out the other side still in a really good place. I truly believe those that have relied heavily on skin substitutes up until this point are going to feel the crunch the most impactfully, but it's time to pivot. Now is the time to start looking at other ways that you can generate revenue, other areas that you can expand your reach into, whether that's facilities, partnerships with hospital systems, really looking at all of your available referral sources, and then making sure you have the right tools in your toolbox to be able to compensate for any of the reduction in the reimbursements that we're going to see from the skin substitutes.
I'm still slightly hopeful that there's going to be a little bit of a delay on the rollout of all of these new measures, come 1/1, but I like to be prepared, not scared. So making sure that you have a great plan in place, that you really understand where your organization is at right now, and where you can button up become more efficient, more productive, and really introduce as many of those additional advanced modalities as you possibly can. I think one of the big talking points that we've had over the last several months, we've put together a reimbursable wound care solutions report and have spent that time really developing and understanding what else is on the market. But I think it's a really great point to make that you can have all the tools out there that are reimbursable, but if you're not utilizing them properly, if you're not utilizing them efficiently, and if you're not getting reimbursed on them, it doesn't matter what tools you're actually utilizing. So making sure that organizations going forward have all three buckets buttoned up and ready to go. Having the right tools, making sure that you have everything you need to support your documentation, but also really looking at your operations and being incredibly efficient and incredibly productive all the way around.
Nikki Johnston is Founder of Kindling Consulting.
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