Abstract
Background The presence of an attending surgeon at all highest-level trauma activations is a requirement for American College of Surgeons-Committee on Trauma (ACS-COT) verification for level I to III trauma centers. Programs must demonstrate compliance with this criterion at least 80% of the time. Documentation of compliance can increase administrative burden presenting an opportunity for automation. Objectives The aim of this quality improvement project was to compare surgeon arrival documentation rates obtained utilizing radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology with manual documentation. Methods This project was conducted at a single level-I trauma center. RFID badges were distributed to all trauma surgeons. Arrival times for surgeons using manual nursing documentation and RFID activation were collected from October 2017 through March 2018. Presence of appropriate documentation and attending arrival within 15 minutes of trauma activation were compared by documentation method: nursing manual documentation or RFID system. Results There were 98 code trauma activations included in the analysis over the 6-month period. Nursing documentation of trauma surgeon attendance occurred 83% of the time (n = 81), with 81% (n = 79) in compliance within 15 minutes of code trauma activation. RFID badges were activated 91% (n = 89) of the time, with 86% (n = 84) in compliance within 15 minutes. There was no statistically significant difference between the rates of nursing documentation and RFID badge activation. Conclusion RFID technology is a reliable, complementary method of documenting compliance for trauma surgeon attendance. Trauma centers searching for technological solutions to address compliance with ACS-COT guidelines and to reduce administrative burden may consider the use of RFID technology.
Highlights
The presence of an attending surgeon at all highest-level trauma activations is a requirement for American College of Surgeons-Committee on Trauma (ACS-COT) verification for level I to III trauma centers
Trauma centers searching for technological solutions to address compliance with ACS-COT guidelines and to reduce administrative burden may consider the use of radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology
Using RFID Technology to Track Trauma Surgeons Lyu et al e17 address compliance with ACS-COT guidelines should consider the use of RFID systems
Summary
The presence of an attending surgeon at all highest-level trauma activations is a requirement for American College of Surgeons-Committee on Trauma (ACS-COT) verification for level I to III trauma centers. In high-level activations with a severely injured patient, a team should include the following: (1) a general surgeon, (2) an emergency physician, (3) surgical and emergency residents, (4) emergency department nurses, (5) a laboratory technician, (6) a radiology technologist, (7) a critical care nurse, (8) an anesthesiologist, (9) an operating room nurse, (10) security officers, (11) a chaplain or social worker, and (12) a scribe.[1] In 2015, the hospital transitioned to a new enterprise electronic medical record system During this transition, the documentation of trauma surgeon attendance dropped to 40%. An innovative and more automated system was sought to accurately document trauma surgeons’ compliance with ACS guidelines given the administrative burden to nursing staff
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