Alliance Work Plan

Shaping policy is an ever evolving, long-term and collaborative effort of comment submission, testimony at public meetings, emails, calls, conferences and conversations with key leaders and staffers at CMS and its contractors, FDA, Congress, and more.  With a focus on coding, coverage and payment,  the Alliance enables the wound care community to elevate the unified voice of wound care to regulators, policymakers and legislators to promote quality wound care, drive evidence-based policies, and protect access to products and services for people with wounds.

Advocacy is a core component of the Alliance's mission, engaging with legislative and regulatory bodies to advocate for policies that promote evidence-based quality care and equitable access to wound care products and services. The Alliance has established processes to elicit member input to establish its policy positions, and member involvement and engagement is key. Learn more about how the Alliance determines advocacy actions and develops policy positions in our advocacy & comment development process FAQ.

Alliance Work Plan

• Monitor, review and take action by commenting and meeting with CMS staff on Medicare coverage, coding and payment issues that impact wound care procedures and technologies.  These include but are not limited to the following:

• • Local Coverage Determinations (LCD) policies from the A/B MACs and DMEMACs
  • National Coverage Decisions (NCDs)  
  • Physician Fee Schedule
  • Outpatient Prospective Payment System
  • Home Health Prospective Payment System

• Monitor government and other key organizations actions to ensure that wound care procedures, technologies and payment are adequately and accurately included in key government agencies shaping health care reform.  

  These include but are not limited to:
  • Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (including Innovation Center)
  • National Quality Forum (NQF)
  • Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ)
  • Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC)

• Educate CMS and its contractors A/B MACs and DME MACs on the complexity of wound care and the coding, coverage and payment of wound care technologies as part of initiatives to drive more informed policies. 

• Collaborate with the FDA on issues impacting wound care

  • Work with the FDA on wound care guidance documents, real-world evidence policies, relevant FDA advisory panel meetings, and other issues impacting the wound care community.

• Monitor and proactively support proposed legislation and legislative initiatives impacting wound care.

• Build collaborative solutions to wound care evidence and coverage challenges.

• Elevate policymaker and public awareness and attention to wound care by emphasizing the burden and costs of wound care in the United States.