Regional Approaches to Trauma Care Improve Patient Outcomes, Says Study

A regional trauma system, developed to ensure patients are triaged to the appropriate level of care, reduced patient mortality rates by as much as 40%, according to a study published in the October 2013 issue of Surgery. The study compared mortality rates within the trauma network for the two years before the regional system was created with the mortality rates for the two years after the system was put in place by two large healthcare systems in Ohio with multiple hospitals. Operating under the philosophy to get the “right patient to the right place at the right time,” the regional system used a coordinated approach to get the most injured patients to the highest level of trauma care as long as there would be no delays in transferring those patients. The hospitals followed regional protocols developed by the regional trauma network and overseen by a coordinating agency, which assisted with patient transfers.