• Bacteria are becoming resistant to silver, making it less effective.
• Several existing antimicrobial technologies may induce cytotoxic effects.
• Silver dressings are commoditized, and the market is hungry for novel and innovative alternatives.
• Stricter medical rules (antimicrobial stewardship) now require clinicians to be more careful about how they use germ-killing treatments, as there has been a widespread habit of using these dressings on wounds that do not actually need them.

In the complete downloadable article, SmartTRAK highlights in detail four companies to watch in 2026 with advanced dressings that offer new approaches to attacking bioburden and infection while limiting antimicrobial resistance. They are:

• Convatec: Seeing Great Potential with ConvaNiox 
   Convatecis the global leader in the antimicrobial dressings market with its Aquacel Ag range. It is evident that they are convinced that ConvaNiox will be their next big brand in wound care ... (read more)

•  Polaroid Therapeutics
   Polaroid Therapeutics (PTx) is a Swiss-based biotech start-up developing innovative products and solutions using its proprietary novel antimicrobial technology  ... (read more)

SmartTRAK reviews how the changes to skin substitute reimbursement reforms may impact each site of service and what it means for patients, providers and manufacturers.

 In response to the meteoric rise in spending, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) enacted payment reforms, establishing a standardized reimbursement rate of ~$127/sq cm for skin substitutes across physician offices, mobile and hospital outpatient departments (HOPD). SmartTRAK believes that these reimbursement reforms could trigger an access-to-care crisis for some patients in the wound care sector. This could result in care being shifted to the high-cost, inpatient operating room (OR) for the most critical patients or lead to an increased number of amputations. The system may realize short-term savings on grafts, but the systemic result could be a spike in the total cost of care for some patients and, for others, no advanced care at all.

Since 2021, the US Advanced Wound Care Market has undergone a transformation defined by a "site-of-service" migration away from the hospital outpatient department (HOPD). As CMS implemented restrictive bundled-payment models in HOPDs in 2014 that capped reimbursement in “high” and “low” buckets, care began to shift toward... (read more)

• The Physician Office (PFS) - In the physician office (PO), the $127/sq cm rate could result in a "reverse triage" effect, where minor or complex wounds become ...(read more)

Throughout 2025, SmartTRAK empowered MedTech professionals to Be The Expert by providing timely, data-driven insights across key markets. From orthopedics and wound care to regenerative medicine and neurotherapy, our analysts delivered meaningful real-time analysis you could act on. Scroll down to see a dozen of SmartTRAK’s most impactful blog posts of 2025.

These blog posts are just a glimpse of the data we cover every day. Want to see the real-time analytics and deep-dive reports behind these headlines? Schedule a demo today to see how SmartTRAK can help you master your market in 2026.

1. The Future of “Skin Substitutes” - What’s the Alternative?
   SmartTRAK reviews possible alternatives to LCDs and CMS’ proposed payment model for Cellular, Acellular, and Matrix-like Products (CAMPs) commonly referred to by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as “skin substitutes” and the potential impact on the market.
   
   
2. Terumo Neuro: Aiming for #1 in Neurovascular 
   Carsten Schroeder, president and CEO of Terumo Neuro, discusses the company’s plans to capture share and become the market leader in neurovascular.
   
   
3. What's Next in Orthopedic Trauma? 
   SmartTRAK reviews the evolving trauma startup landscape in 2025, spotlighting five innovators, followed by a comparative chart mapping 19 emerging companies.
   
   
4. Impact of Final Physician Fee Schedule on US Skin Substitutes in 2026
   Wound GM Kris Flinn and Senior Analysts Elizabeth Anderson and Jay Merkel discuss the impact of the final physician fee schedule on US Skin Substitutes in 2026.
   
   
   
   

SmartTRAK spoke with the Westbrook Weaver, CEO of Tempo Therapeutics, to discuss the company’s new technology, how it works and the results of the clinical work they’ve completed so far.

In the wound care space, there has always been an unmet need for a product that can provide volumetric wound filling in addition to simply closing the wound. Tempo Therapeutics is looking to utilize microporous annealed particle technology, or MAP, to address this need. In an interview with SmartTRAK, Westbrook Weaver, PhD, President and CEO of Tempo Therapeutics introduces their technology for creating a three-dimensional scaffold.

To learn more about Tempo Therapeutics, click on the following video (16:41 min). A link to download a complete transcript of the interview is also provided below.

Interview Transcript:
 

It is with both gratitude and admiration that we announce the retirement of Susan Paquette, our former VP/GM of SmartTRAK Wound Care, after nearly 15 years of dedicated service to SmartTRAK. 

Since joining the company, Susan has been instrumental in building SmartTRAK Wound Care into the industry’s most trusted source of real-time market intelligence. Under her leadership, the Wound Care business has grown from a promising vision into a powerhouse platform providing comprehensive data, news, and analysis on a range of Advanced Wound Care markets. Today, SmartTRAK Wound Care delivers deep coverage across nine distinct areas with broad global reach, relied upon daily by the world’s top wound and orthopedic companies.

SmartTRAK reports from Boston, where discussions about the future of wound care were distracted by significant changes to reimbursement.

SmartTRAK reviews possible alternatives to LCDs and CMS’ proposed payment model for Cellular, Acellular, and Matrix-like Products (CAMPs) commonly referred to by Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as “skin substitutes” and the potential impact on the market.

SmartTRAK attended the Wound Care Influencers Resolution Consultation (WCIRC) Meeting held August 1st , 2025 in Washington, DC, where clinical stakeholders, manufacturers, reimbursement experts, legal counsel and distributors discussed possible alternatives to local coverage determinations (LCDs) and the recently released payment models for the Physician Fee Schedule and Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS).  In this article we will look at the potential market impact of some of the alternatives proposed at WCIRC.

Download the full articlefor an in-depth look at WCIRC’s proposed alternatives, their market impact, and other related topics, such as:

• A Summit Overview
  • Kerser Med Comms and the Serena Group brought together 49 thought leaders from clinical practice and industry to attend WCIRC, a one-day summit on evidence and reimbursement ... (read more)
• The Alternative Payment Rates for Skin Substitutes
  • CMS’ recently proposed rule sets the payment rate for skin substitutes for both the non-facility (i.e. office, home) and the hospital outpatient (HOPD) settings ... (read more)
• Future Rate Setting
  • One provision of Senator Cassidy’s bill on skin substitutes is to tag the reimbursed price of skin substitutes to the increase in the consumer price index (CPI) for all urban consumers instead of being based on the actual ASPs ... (read more)
• NCD vs LCD
  • During the summit, another discussion focused on whether or not to push for an NCD vs the future effective LCDs ... (read more)
• Our Conclusions
  • SmartTRAK believes that Medicare spending in this category has become untenable for CMS, making change inevitable ... (read more)

Click the button below to download and learn about possible alternatives to LCDs and CMS’ proposed payment model in the complete "The Future of Skin Substitutes - What’s the Alternative?" article by Jay Merkel, SmartTRAK Sr Analyst, Wound.