Urgent Action Needed: Help Protect Patient Access to Wound Imaging Technologies
Colleagues,
Medicare beneficiaries with chronic and hard-to-heal wounds could soon lose access to important diagnostic technologies that help clinicians identify barriers to healing and guide treatment decisions. We need your help.
On October 1, 2026, Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) released proposed Local Coverage Determinations (LCDs) that would establish blanket noncoverage for Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) and Real-Time Fluorescence Wound Imaging (RTFWI).
If finalized, these policies could significantly restrict access to diagnostic tools that provide valuable clinical information, particularly for Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes, vascular disease, and other conditions associated with chronic wounds.
Why does this matter for patients?
- Bacterial fluorescence imaging helps clinicians identify elevated bacterial burden that may not be apparent during routine examination, supporting more targeted debridement, wound management, and antimicrobial decisions. Clinical evidence demonstrates improved detection when fluorescence imaging is added to standard clinical assessment.
- NIRS imaging provides information about tissue oxygenation and perfusion that may assist clinicians in evaluating tissue viability, wound healing potential, and treatment decisions.
These technologies serve different clinical purposes, but both may provide information that is not readily available through conventional examination alone.
The concern extends well beyond reimbursement or access to technology. Restricting these diagnostic tools could reduce opportunities to recognize and address factors contributing to delayed healing in patients already at risk for infection, hospitalization, and limb loss.
Rather than imposing blanket noncoverage, Medicare coverage decisions should reflect available clinical evidence, appropriate patient selection, and the potential consequences for beneficiary access to care.
WE NEED YOUR HELP — ACT BEFORE NOVEMBER 14, 2026
The Wound and Hyperbaric Association (WHA) has launched two petitions urging Medicare contractors to withdraw these proposed blanket noncoverage policies and reconsider the available evidence and potential impact on patients.
Please sign BOTH petitions:
- SIGN THE NIRS PETITION
- SIGN THE BACTERIAL FLUORESCENCE IMAGING PETITION
- SHARE BOTH PETITIONS with colleagues, healthcare organizations, patients, caregivers, and professional networks.
You do not need to use either technology to support these petitions. Whether you practice in a hospital outpatient department, physician office, skilled nursing facility, or home-based wound care setting, your voice matters.
These proposed policies could influence coverage decisions beyond the jurisdictions where they are issued.
WHY YOUR SIGNATURE MATTERS
The policies are not final. Every signature helps demonstrate the breadth of concern among clinicians, patients, professional societies, and other stakeholders. Petitions complement—but do not replace—formal evidence-based comments submitted to the MACs.
The comment deadline is November 14, 2026. Time is limited, and your participation is important.
For additional scientific background, see the APWCA Position Statement on Bacterial Fluorescence Imaging
This effort is about protecting Medicare beneficiaries’ access to appropriate, evidence-based wound care, not simply preserving reimbursement for individual technologies.
Thank you for standing with WHA in advocating for patients and ensuring that Medicare coverage decisions are guided by sound clinical evidence and the needs of the beneficiaries we serve.
American Professional Wound Care Association (APWCA)
Wound and Hyperbaric Association (WHA)
Protecting Patient Access. Advancing Evidence-Based Wound Care.