Building a wound care formulary for a practice.

Why a short list works better than a full closet

A wound care formulary for a practice is a short, written list of the products your clinicians have agreed to use, set out so anyone on the team can order from it. It does not restrict clinical judgment. It is a decision made once, calmly, instead of many times in a hurry.

Without one, supply rooms fill with near-duplicates. Three foams in overlapping sizes tie up money and shelf space, and the one a clinician wants is still out of stock. A short list means fewer items to count, fewer to expire and faster training for new staff.

Start with what you already use

Begin with your own purchase history, not a catalog.

1. Pull several months of orders from every supplier.
2. List each product with its size, unit of sale and the quantity bought.
3. Walk the shelves and the visit bags, and add anything the orders missed.
4. Mark items that expired, sat unopened or were bought only once.
5. Group everything by what it does.

The grouping step is where duplication shows: a handful of products doing most of the work, and a long tail nobody would miss.

Organize by function, not by brand

A formulary built on brand names breaks the first time a supplier changes its catalog. Build it on functions the clinicians define, then name a product for each. Common ones include:

• Cleansers and skin preparation
• Contact layers and gauze
• Absorbent dressings, such as foams and gelling fibers
• Dressings that add or hold moisture, such as hydrogels and hydrocolloids
• Antimicrobial dressings
• Compression wraps and multi-layer systems
• Tape, wraps and other securement
• Skin protectants and barrier products
• Padding and offloading supplies

For each function, aim for one primary product in the sizes you use and one named alternate. Which product belongs on which wound remains the treating clinician’s call, patient by patient. The formulary only settles what is on the shelf. New staff can pick up the vocabulary from our plain-language guide to types of wound dressings.

How to choose between similar products

Clinician preference comes first. After that, practical questions decide between products that do the same job:

• Is it available from more than one supplier, or does one backorder leave you without it?
• Do sizes and pack quantities match your use, or will half a box be thrown away?
• What is the shelf life, and does it tolerate a hot or cold car?
• Can the people who change dressings between your visits (facility nurses, home health staff or family) apply it correctly?
• Can the patient obtain the same or a comparable product for home use?

A dressing plan that works at the visit but cannot be supplied or applied afterward is not a plan. Compression and offloading products deserve their own review, because sizing and fit decide whether they get used.

Keep advanced products on a separate list

Skin substitutes, negative pressure supplies and other high-cost items do not belong on the open shelf list. Their use usually depends on documentation, payer coverage policy and often prior authorization, and those rules change. The practice confirms current requirements with each payer before ordering.

Keep a second, shorter list for these: the product, the documentation the clinician needs, the ordering lead time and who checks authorization. Our pages on advanced wound care products and prior authorization tracking describe the surrounding work.

Write it so someone else can order from it

A formulary in a clinician’s head is a preference. On paper, each line should carry:

• The function and a plain product description
• Sizes stocked
• Supplier and item number for the primary and for the alternate
• Unit of sale
• Par level and reorder point for each storage location
• Who places the order

Test it by handing the list to someone who has never placed the order. If that person can restock the shelf and the bags without asking a question, it is finished.

Exceptions and review

A list with no way in becomes a list people ignore. Give clinicians a request path: the clinician says what the new product replaces or what gap it fills, and one person decides. One in, one out is a useful habit.

Then review on a schedule. Look at what was used, what expired and what was bought off the list, and adjust.

Gateway helps practices in Greater St. Louis and the Metro East with supply formulary and ordering and with sourcing wound care supplies. Product choices stay with your clinicians. To ask, use the practice support inquiry form or call 314-325-0126.

Common questions

Related pages

• Supply formulary and ordering
• Wound care supplies
• Advanced wound care products
• Compression and offloading products
• Mobile wound care startup checklist
• Prior authorization tracking system
• Credentialing timeline: what to expect
• CCM program startup questions