Many dollars and feet can be saved when podiatrists and vascular surgeons work together for patients with diabetic foot ulcerations (DFUs).
Effective partnerships between these two specialties can address one of the most challenging health care populations in the United States, according to a new practice memo, “Building Effective Partnerships Between Vascular Surgeons and Podiatrists in the Effective Management of Diabetic Foot Ulcers.”
Courtesy of SVS
The practice memo, a collaborative effort between the Young Physicians Programs of the American Podiatric Medical Association and the Young Surgeons Committee of the SVS, aims to aid podiatrists and vascular surgeons who are early in their careers with the establishment of strong interprofessional partnerships.
As the prevalence of DFUs has increased, so have the associated costs of care. Peripheral vascular complications of diabetes accounted for 31% of the cost of treating diabetes in an estimated 24 million Americans in 2007, which amounted to a total of $174 billion, according to the memo. A Medicare analysis in in the mid-’90s found that expenditures for diabetic foot patients were three times higher than for the general population. The memo is posted on the SVS website at vsweb.org/DFU.