Pressure Ulcers

Among Community-Dwelling Patients

- Early Intervention and Home Management -

June 2026

Wound care in the U.S. costs over $20 billion per year. Contributing strongly to this, pressure ulcers rank as the second most expensive wound type, behind surgical complications.¹ Despite an aging population, the previous decade saw a dramatic reduction in wound-care spending nationwide, as costs shifted from inpatient care to home health care. More importantly, pressure ulcers signal serious health risk including increased mortality rates.² Your patients also experience pain, diminished quality of life, and greater psychological stress.³ Whether it’s treatment or prevention, the home plays a significant role, and Ideal Home Care stands as your ally in pressure ulcer treatment and prevention.

Many prescribers are not aware that very early intervention meets Medicare’s skilled need requirement. Homebound patients with even a stage 1 pressure sore will qualify for skilled nursing and rehab from Ideal Home Care, with Medicare paying 100% (no copays or deductibles). A stage 1 pressure sore is a reddened area on a pressure point that does not blanch when pressed.

Home health nurses are uniquely positioned for holistic treatment of pressure sores. For instance, in 2010, nutrition was found to be the strongest variable in pressure ulcer development and severity. Nutrition reached this statistical importance not necessarily because it was more influential than other risk factors: mobility limitations, incontinence, skin condition, cognitive impairment, and diabetes. Rather, it seemed malnutrition played such a strong role statistically speaking because it was the least managed variable. Nutrition improvements often require intensive interventions including diet assessment, resource coordination, caregiver training, and follow up. However, when implemented by nurses in residential settings, such interventions have been found effective in older populations at risk for pressure ulcers.³ The home health model is well suited to intensive interventions. Holistic interventions hold the promise of both treatment and prevention but need to involve both direct care and training for the family caregiver.

Ideal Home Care Patient/Family Pressure Ulcer Education:

• An individualized care plan
• Skin assessment
• Transfer techniques 
• Repositioning techniques
• Skin care
• Understanding danger areas
• Proper positioning (sitting, lying, reclining)
• Nutrition & hydration
• Scheduling repositions
• Personal hygiene
• Evaluation and management of incontinence
• Use of pressure-relieving devices
• Management of comorbidities such as diabetes
• And other topics

Direct Care for Pressure Ulcer Treatment & Prevention

• Observation and assessment
• Skin care
• Wound care including negative pressure wound therapy if indicated
• Physical therapy where potential for mobility improvement exists
• Equipment consultation and resource coordination (for example: pressure relieving surfaces, dia-pers, etc.)
• Nutritional intervention
• Control of comorbidities such as incontinence and diabetes

Please remember Ideal Home Care as your ally in treating and preventing pressure ulcers among your community-dwelling patients. 

Please offer Ideal Home Care to Your Patients.

References

1. Carter MJ, DaVanzo J, Haught R, Nusgart M, Cartwright D, Fife CE. Chronic wound prevalence and the associated cost of treatment in Medicare beneficiaries: changes between 2014 and 2019. Journal of Medical Economics. 2023 Dec 31;26(1):894-901.
2. Bauer K, Rock K, Nazzal M, Jones O, Qu W. Pressure Ulcers in the United States' Inpatient Popu-lation From 2008 to 2012: Results of a Retrospective Nationwide Study. Ostomy/Wound Manage-ment. 2016 Nov 1;62(11):30-8.
3. Cangelosi G, Sacchini F, Biondini F, Mancin S, Morales Palomares S, Ferrara G, Caggianelli G, Sguanci M, Petrelli F. Nutritional support in the prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers in healthy aging: a systematic review of nursing interventions in community care. Geriatrics. 2025 Jan 22;10(1):17.
4. Iizaka S, Okuwa M, Sugama J, Sanada H. The impact of malnutrition and nutrition-related factors on the development and severity of pressure ulcers in older patients receiving home care. Clinical Nutrition. 2010; 29 (1): 47-53.