An application for real-time, remote consultations for wound care at home with wound, ostomy and continence nurses: a case study

Background Real-time remote consultations could be a way for wound, ostomy and continence nurses (WOCNs) to provide wound care alongside visiting nurses. We developed an application (app) for remote wound care consultations that facilitated high quality video calling and patient data sharing which was specifically designed for Japanese home care settings. In this report, we discuss the case of a patient who received real-time remote consultations through the app. Case A woman aged in her 90s had a wound on the posterior aspect of her left lower leg. The wound did not show any healing progress for 3 weeks. A WOCN obtained the patient’s information through the app which was uploaded by a visiting nurse before the first consultation. Weekly real-time remote consultations were conducted through the app using video calls. The WOCN could observe the wound in detail, and communicate with both the visiting nurse and the patient. The WOCN assessed that a factor of delayed wound healing was venous insufficiency, and then gave care recommendations. The wound healed within 6 weeks. and and