Management of chronic wounds in the outpatient setting is quite challenging. The extensive co-morbid medical problems of the chronically ill patient along with the complexities of the wound bed and its biochemical environment has led to a plethora of patients with poor wound healing. This ever increasing population is a challenge for the wound care practitioner and cost to the health care system and patient. Increased wound chronicity has promulgated the use of advanced wound care products, including Living Skin Substitutes (LSS), in an attempt to obtain wound closure, and ultimately both physiological and functional healing.(1-3) In the outpatient setting, it is evident that the efficacy of the LSS varies widely depending on the patient type with some patients responding quite favorably while others who do not achieve healing despite repeated applications of LSS. This case series demonstrates that a systematic method of wound bed preparation prior to the application of LSS improved healing outcomes. The entire wound bed preparation protocol included autolytic, non-selective, and sharp-selective debridement, if deemed appropriate, followed by the weekly application of a pure native collagen. The wound bed preparation protocol was completed prior to LSS application. This case series presents evidence supporting the application of a 100% native collagen dressing to wound bed prior to the final step of LSS utilization.

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It is my great pleasure to serve with colleagues that are at the forefront of fostering multidisciplinary wound care. They not only keep pace with the new technology and application to patient care, but are leaders in our field. This year we have partnered with AMP for our membership meeting and the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the American College of Clinical Wound Specialists! We were again able to engage our membership as ambassadors and educators to South America, teaching 4 courses this spring and summer. In addition, we partnered with Kindred to deliver a tailored course for their team. The ACCWS Seal of Excellence, which is and will continue to be an incredible asset to our members and our Industry partners, vets products through the engagement of our Scientific Committee. The review information is available to assist our members in decision making and moving practice patterns forward based on evidence. Our Journal continues to publish articles that review and utilize new products and algorithms and will soon be available electronically. The ACCWS continues to grow in membership across all disciplines. With the addition of our IT specialist, the ACCWS web page has become more member friendlylook us up on FaceBook or Linked-In. The power of networking multiple disciplines is now available. We are here to help you grow individually, host a Back to Basics Course or link up with a local colleague! I hope to see you all in Chicago at the AMP meeting August 12-15th!