The Health Economic Impact of Living Cell Tissue Products in the Treatment of Chronic Wounds: A Retrospective Analysis of Medicare Claims Data.

This was a retrospective claims analysis using matched cohorts, so differences may reflect factors other than the product. The data did not include wound size, wound severity, healing outcomes, or patient-centered outcomes. Wound size was inferred from debridement billing codes, which cannot reliably distinguish one wound from multiple wounds. Product waste reporting was voluntary before 2017, and coding errors were common, so the waste analysis used only 680 voluntary claims with the JW modifier. Patients were required to have active nonmanaged Medicare coverage, and numbers fell over time. Too few remained beyond 180 days for valid analysis. Amputations were assumed to relate to the treated wound, but patients often had multiple wounds and the amputation could have come from another wound.

Do not conclude that CHSA causes lower costs, less waste, or fewer amputations. This was a retrospective Medicare claims analysis using matched cohorts, and wound size, severity, healing, and patient-centered outcomes were not measured.