Improving Trauma Registry Data FY24

Kentucky continues to experience an elevated burden of motor vehicle crash (MVC) morbidity and mortality, but the large majority of MVC-related deaths occur at the crash scene; only 4% of patients who reach a trauma system hospital die there. The state''s trauma hospitals appear to be achieving high performance standards, but the state''s trauma system as a whole continues to struggle with the well- documented challenges of a largely rural geography and mountainous terrain. Kentucky''s trauma system is at a critical point in its development that was not envisioned in our FFY 2022 grant proposal. The data management vendor that had served the system since its inception was acquired by a larger firm in 2020. The new vendor has a sweeping vision for trauma registry functionality that would far exceed the trauma system''s current capacity or resources. Kentucky''s Trauma Advisory Council is investigating alternatives, a process that is both time-consuming and technically challenging. Fortunately, the changes envisioned by the new vendor will not take effect for another year. Thus, FFY 2023 will see much attention devoted to assuring that Kentucky''s trauma data are optimally managed going forward. In the decision-making process, the Trauma Advisory Council will consider all the data-related objectives of the Section 408 program. For example, if reporting can be automated, timeliness may be enhanced, but data quality will require much attention during the transition. Kentucky''s understanding of the full range of trauma services would be enhanced if EMS and post-discharge care data can be integrated with the current acute care data. The Trauma Advisory Council will need to weigh such potential advances against their initial and ongoing costs. Finally, we continue to strive for greater performance on the goal of completeness by adding and retaining trauma system hospitals. This objective is particularly challenging in the middle of a pandemic, but we certainly hope it will have ended by the time we begin the FFY 2023 scope of work. As of this writing, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to stress Kentucky hospitals, with shortages of staff, supplies, and equipment compounding the problem of managing an increased patient load. We were thus pleasantly surprised to hear from a mid-sized hospital that it intended to rejoin the trauma system after several years of inactivity. We are also working with a large regional hospital to achieve formal verification, possibly later in 2022. We continue to assist with regional and statewide training programs, all of which have been held virtually in the current funding year.