Verification and Regionalization of Trauma Systems: The Impact of These Efforts on Trauma Care in the United States

Abstract

KEY POINTS: A trauma system is a coordinated and organized approach to the delivery of care to injured patients within a community implemented to enhance community health and to ensure the effective use of resources. Efforts to develop trauma systems in the United States have resulted in the implementation of a system of care for the seriously injured in most states and within the US military, particularly in relation to recent major conflicts in the Middle East and Southwest Asia. The methodology intended to verify trauma systems is focused on performance based on patient-centered outcomes. Trauma systems are effectively regionalized to the extent that the most seriously injured patients in a community are cared for at designated tertiary care trauma centers. Outcome measures, beyond hospital-based mortality, such as risk-adjusted rates of preventable morbidity and quality-of-life indicators, may serve as a future means to verify trauma systems.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2012
Accession Number
ADA619932

Entities

People

  • Alan Murdock
  • David Hoyt
  • Jeffrey Bailey
  • Scott Trexler

Organizations

  • United States Army Institute of Surgical Research

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Afghanistan Conflict
  • Brain Injuries
  • Department Of Defense
  • Diseases And Disorders
  • Geography
  • Health Services
  • Hospitals
  • Iraqi-War
  • Medical Personnel
  • North America
  • Patient Care
  • Physicians
  • Public Health
  • Therapy
  • United States
  • Verification

Fields of Study

  • Medicine

Readers

  • Defense Acquisition Program Management
  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • Trauma or Military Medicine