$20 billion dollars annually.
For most of the 332 wound care episodes, the total cost was greater than the total income, resulting in a net loss to the practice. General practitioner care was the greatest contributor to the total cost and the overwhelming majority of income was from Medicare Benefits Schedule billing items. 1–3 According to the Australian Wound Management Association, an estimated 400 000 Australians have a chronic wound or ulcer at any given time. 4 This high incidence of chronic wounds translates into a major burden on the healthcare system and annual costs were estimated to be $3 billion in 2005. GP care was the greatest contributor to the total cost of wound care episodes at 51.8%; products contributed 28.4% and nurse care 19.9%. The median cost of GP care was $31.10 (IQR = $24.10–$37.02), compared with $9.92 for wound care products (IQR = $4.05–$21.57) and $10.37 for nurse care (IQR = $10.37–$10.37). 1–3 According to the Australian Wound Management Association, an estimated 400 000 Australians have a chronic wound or ulcer at any given time. 4 This high incidence of chronic wounds translates into a major burden on the healthcare system and annual costs were estimated to be $3 billion in 2005. Indeed, costs associated with wound care are not insignificant. A study by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (formerly Agency for Health Care Policy and Research) estimated that the national cost of pressure ulcer management exceeded $1.4 billion annually. Health economic studies divide costs into direct and indirect cost. In wound care, direct costs refer to those directly related to wound treatment and may include the cost of primary and secondary dressings and the cost of auxiliary materials (such as saline or tape). Wound care costs the US health care system more than $20 billion dollars annually.1 The number of wound care patients in the US is expected to more than double during this decade.2 Payers must utilize wound products, technologies, and systems that provide high quality outcomes at budget sensible pricing.  The economic cost of wounds is measured in literally billions of dollars, euros and pounds. Health system managers may be unaware of this cost as much of it is “hidden”, in that it’s not apparent in the cost of materials. Current estimates indicate that wounds account for almost 4% of total health system costs, and that this proportion is increasing. 5. Hospitalisation itself is the main cost driver for wound care for the system The estimated cost of foot ulcer care in the U.S. ranges from $4,595 per ulcer episode to more than $28,000 and the total annual cost of foot ulcer care in the US has been estimated to be as high as $5 billion. Pressure, or decubitus, ulcers are another of the most common types of chronic wounds.  Cost-Effective Wound Care. Health care costs are a hot topic these days, and wound care expenditures must be part of the dialog. Every year in this country, more than 1.3 million patients develop diabetic ulcers, and up to one-quarter of them will eventually require an amputation.  Number affected: 2.5 million patients per year. Cost: Pressure ulcers cost $9.1-$11.6 billion per year in the US. Cost of individual patient care ranges from $20,900 to 151,700 per pressure ulcer. Medicare estimated in 2007 that each pressure ulcer added $43,180 in costs to a hospital stay. Lawsuits: More than 17,000 lawsuits are related to pressure ulcers annually ABSTRACT In the United States, chronic wounds affect 6.5 million patients. An estimated excess of US$25 billion is spent annually on treatment of chronic wounds and the burden is rapidly growing due to increasing health care costs, an aging population and a sharp rise in the incidence of diabetes and obesity worldwide. The annual wound care products market is projected to reach $15.3 billion by 2010. Chronic wounds are rarely seen in individuals who are otherwise healthy. In fact, chronic wound patients frequently suffer from highly branded diseases such as diabetes and obesity.
http://www.racgp.org.au/afp/2014/march/wound-care-costs/ http://www.racgp.org.au/afp/2014/march/wound-care-costs/ http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/478970_3 http://celleraterx.com/costconsiderations.htm http://www.smith-nephew.com/about-us/what-we-do/advanced-wound-management/economic-cost-of-wounds/ http://blog.mediligence.com/2013/06/10/wound-management-an-18-5-billion-worldwide-market-in-2021/ http://whitakerwellness.com/2012/08/wound-care-treatment/ http://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/systems/hospital/pressureulcertoolkit/putool1.html http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19903300
cost of wound care in the us