New status confirms SC Burn Center meets 'highest standards of care'

Just five years after opening, the MUSC Health South Carolina Burn Center has earned verification status from the American Burn Association. That puts it among 40 other burn centers in the U.S. and Canada that have verification for both pediatric and adult burn care. They meet what the association calls “the highest standards of care for the burn-injured patient.”

The South Carolina Burn Center, which treats adults and children with burns ranging from minor to severe, is based at MUSC Health in Charleston. Steven Kahn, M.D., medical director of the Burn Center, emphasized the significance of the recent verification. He called it a testament to his team’s dedication to delivering the highest-quality, patient-centered burn care.

“In the South Carolina and Georgia region, we are the only institution with an American Burn Association-verified adult and pediatric burn center as well as Level 1 trauma designations for both adults and children,” Kahn said. 

“MUSC is also a large referral center for unusual and complex cases, so burn patients have access to virtually every subspecialist. That makes us uniquely equipped to handle rare conditions and critically ill patients – all in one location.”

The launch 

The South Carolina Burn Center has come a long way in a short time. Kahn arrived in 2019 to prepare to launch it, recruiting veteran burn nurse Katie Hollowed to play a key role. They opened the center in 2020 – just in time to coincide with the start of  something else.“We're the only burn center to open during a pandemic,” Kahn said wryly.

But COVID-19 didn’t keep his growing team from treating patients from across the state and beyond in the only inpatient burn center in South Carolina. It takes what Hollowed called a comprehensive approach. “There's more than just putting burn patients back together physically.”

Kahn agreed. “Our goal today is for patients not just to survive but to truly thrive,” he said. 

“In the past, burn care was focused primarily on saving lives. Over time, there was recognition that survival alone is not enough, with substantial improvements facilitated by technology and modern medicine. Patients deserve optimal functional and cosmetic outcomes along with the ability to successfully reintegrate into society. That is the standard of care we are committed to providing.”

Team effort

That commitment involves a team of more than 20 people who do nothing but burn care, plus dozens more who are involved with the work that begins with a patient’s admission to the center and may not end. The burn center follows its patients’ progress for as long as it’s needed, hosting annual events for burn survivors. 

 

“It's a group of people that have the highest commitment to doing the best that they can for South Carolinians,” Kahn said.

Strong outcomes

Kahn’s team has the numbers to demonstrate the success of that commitment. “Our burn unit ranks in the 98th percentile nationally for patient satisfaction among over 2,000 medical-surgical units, according to HCAHPS scores,” he said. HCAHPS stands for Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems. It’s run by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

“This distinction shows our dedication to delivering exceptional patient-centered care.” 

Kahn cited another measure as well. “At least one quarter per year, we achieve a No. 1 ranking for our survival rate,” Kahn said. The rankings are provided by Vizient, a company that works with thousands of hospitals across the country on performance improvement, including mortality.

Staying on the cutting-edge

Kahn said his team is always looking for ways to offer even better burn care. It got off to a strong start, performing the first reported successful minimally invasive skin graft on a burn in the U.S. 

The team also recently published information about its new resuscitation strategy to treat burn patients in shock, resulting in fewer complications and better survival.

And it’s currently working with the Zucker Institute for Innovation Commercialization, Clemson and Furman universities and Chitozan Health on new antimicrobial burn and wound gels to prevent infections and speed up healing.

Taking on national roles

The team’s strengths haven’t gone unnoticed by its peers. Kahn recently ended a term on the American Burn Association’s Board of Trustees as its program chair. Hollowed, the burn nurse who helped launch the center, is on the association’s economics and access committee, as is Kahn. Other burn center colleagues have prominent national roles as well.

Kahn said it’s important to be part of the larger discussions about burn care, including talks about burn prevention, innovation and education. He’s proud that his team’s center brings so much to the table. “We’re providing world-class burn care right here in South Carolina. “There’s no longer a need for patients to travel out of state for comprehensive treatment – we have the expertise, resources and facilities to deliver the highest level of care locally.”