TBI-Trac® and the Quality Improvement TBI Program
Two of the key challenges facing hospitals today are to (1) improve patient safety and quality care and (2) reduce operating costs. Brain Trauma Foundation’s QI TBI Program is a cooperative consortium of trauma centers dedicated to improving severe TBI care in the acute care setting. The QI TBI Program offers a step-by-step approach for incorporating quality and process improvements into the care delivery model for TBI.
The primary tool, a clinical database, is a secure internet based database that permits a trauma center to examine its own performance as well as benchmark with other institutions. TBI-trac™ is designed to help trauma centers measure and monitor their performance on key clinical indicators based on established evidence-based guidelines. Participants use TBI-trac™ as a routine part of their ongoing monitoring and evaluation activities to identify opportunities for improvement and for sharing information with clinical department chairs, quality performance coordinators, and senior administration. Centers can combine TBI-trac™ data with other internal data sources to reveal cost savings opportunities associated with improvement strategies.
The database is unique in that it contains:
- Clinical data from prehospital data, ED and the first 10 days of ICU care
- Comparisons to data from other participating centers
- Data on 10 day outcome including mortality, length of ICU and non-ICU stay
- Lists of outlier patients for detailed in depth QI analysis
Functionality & Value:
- Easy to use, web based data entry: Access TBI-trac™ anywhere Internet capability exists, saving time and money on training and architectural needs. Access to limited number of internal users.
- Side-by side comparisons of other health care organizations: Benchmark your organization’s performance against other participating trauma centers to flag opportunities for improvement.
- Automated report generation based on the users needs: Standardized reports can be generated by the user on an “as needed” basis for QI meetings, grand rounds, JCAHO, ACS or state audits.
- Annual Report: Detailed statistical analysis identifying key clinical parameters that influence outcome and mortality.
- Community Focus: Users receive data on basic demographics for their TBI population (age distribution, sex, mechanism of injury, seatbelt and helmet use, and direct vs. transfer admissions) which can be useful to injury prevention programs.
- Prehospital Integration: Users receive reports describing prehospital treatment of severe TBI patients in order to integrate prehospital care into the full continuum of trauma care.