From a patient experience, the goal of UPMC Wound Healing Services is to assess patients from head to toe, looking at the whole patient. “We try to optimize factors that influence wound healing,” Dr. Parent says. “And that can include multiple different things, such as diabetes control, smoking, blood vessel health, and vascular disease. I’ll talk with multiple different specialists trying to optimize care and making sure we’re hitting all the basics before we try anything that’s a little bit more advanced. “I’m routinely consulting with podiatry experts, vascular surgeons, endocrinologists, and diabetic care experts about wound care. These are all people I talk to regularly about patients to try to optimize and come up with a consensus plan. So, at UPMC, you are getting the opinion of multiple people, not just one.” Dr. Parent says the center’s “excellent wound care nurses” are also a key part of the multidisciplinary model. “They work every day to optimize patient care, which can also include things like optimizing transportation and financial support,” he says. For more information about UPMC Wound Healing Services, visit our website.