Trauma Informatics / Edition 1

by Kimball I. Maull, D.D. Trunkey, Jeffrey S. Augenstein

Overview

Information and the technology to rapidly transmit, analyze, document, and disperse this information are increasing arithmetically, if not logarithmi­ cally. Arguably, no discipline better exemplifies this trend than medicine. It can be further argued that care of the trauma patient is one of the better examples of informatics and the potential benefit to the health profession­ als who care for these patients. Maull and Augenstein have provided us with a primer on informatics and its use in trauma care. The subject matter is timely and covers the gamut of trauma care from prehospital to rehabilitation. Who will benefit from trauma informatics? A simple answer would be anyone who takes care of trauma patients. From a broader perspective, however, at least three examples illustrate how trauma informatics can be used today to exert a positive effect on patient outcome. The first example is care of combat casualties, including battlefield resuscitation, evacuation, acute care, and ultimate return to the continental United States. Current technology is such that via global positioning satellite, a corpsman could transmit to a remote area the vital signs and pertinent physical findings of a combat casualty. Furthermore, the location of the corpsman and the casu­ alty would be precisely known, and consultation and destination disposition would be possible. The injured person, when admitted to a combat support hospital, could be continuously monitored and additional remote consulta­ tion obtained.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780387943596
Publisher:	Springer New York
Publication date:	03/16/1998
Series:	Health Informatics
Edition description:	1998
Pages:	265
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.03(d)

About the Author

Maull, Kimball I., MD, FACS (Loyola Univ Medical Center); Augenstein, Jeffrey S., MD, PhD, FACS (Univ of Miami)

Table of Contents

Section I.- 1 Trauma Informatics: Today’s Vision, Tomorrow’s Concepts.- Section II.- 2 Informatics in Prehospital Care.- 3 Vehicle Crash Investigation.- 4 Informatics in the Emergency Department.- 5 Informatics in Emergency Radiology.- 6 Intensive Care Unit.- 7 Rehabilitation Informatics.- Section III.- 8 Trauma Registry Data Definition, Acquisition, and Evaluation.- 9 Trauma Registry Informatics: Hospital Perspectives.- 10 Trauma Registry Informatics: State Perspectives.- 11 Trauma Registry Informatics: National Perspectives….- Section IV.- 12 Trauma Informatics: Guidelines, Prools, and Pathways.

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: David James Dries, MSE, MD (Regions Hospital)
Description: This multiauthor text describes the application of computer driven information technology to the management of data derived from the care of patients with injury. This is part of the series Computers in Health Care.
Purpose: It is intended for healthcare professionals with fundamental knowledge in healthcare computing who seek to expand their horizons.
Audience: The senior trainee or practitioner in trauma care is an appropriate audience for this work, while the manager of data derived from the care of injury may also benefit. The contributors and editors represent a significant portion of the North American community using computer driven data acquisition in assessment of trauma care.
Features: Informatics is described as it applies to prehospital care, critical care, the emergency department, and rehabilitation. An excellent discussion follows on trauma registry development from the perspective of hospital, state, and national data acquisition. The final chapter describes the use of information technology in the development of guidelines and pathways for the management of common problems in trauma. Chapters are well written and illustrated with black-and-white figures which reproduce well. A brief reference list is provided with each chapter. Frequently, reference dates are four to five years prior to publication. The table of contents divides material content by section. Despite the technical subject of this work, the index provided is less than five pages.
Assessment: Trauma systems and their management is one of the leading areas for application of information technology to healthcare. This book is a worthy summary of recent advances in this area. In particular, though somewhat redundant, the section of trauma registries provides a practical guide for practitioners and data managers in this area.

Doody's Review Service

3 Stars from Doody

This multiauthor text describes the application of computer driven information technology to the management of data derived from the care of patients with injury. This is part of the series Computers in Health Care. It is intended for healthcare professionals with fundamental knowledge in healthcare computing who seek to expand their horizons. The senior trainee or practitioner in trauma care is an appropriate audience for this work, while the manager of data derived from the care of injury may also benefit. The contributors and editors represent a significant portion of the North American community using computer driven data acquisition in assessment of trauma care. Informatics is described as it applies to prehospital care, critical care, the emergency department, and rehabilitation. An excellent discussion follows on trauma registry development from the perspective of hospital, state, and national data acquisition. The final chapter describes the use of information technology in the development of guidelines and pathways for the management of common problems in trauma. Chapters are well written and illustrated with black-and-white figures which reproduce well. A brief reference list is provided with each chapter. Frequently, reference dates are four to five years prior to publication. The table of contents divides material content by section. Despite the technical subject of this work, the index provided is less than five pages. Trauma systems and their management is one of the leading areas for application of information technology to healthcare. This book is a worthy summary of recent advances in this area. In particular, though somewhat redundant, the section of traumaregistries provides a practical guide for practitioners and data managers in this area.

David J. Dries