Abstract
Introduction
The Pietermaritzburg Metropolitan Trauma Service formerly lacked a robust computerised
trauma registry. This made surgical audit difficult for the purpose of quality of
care improvement and development. We aimed to design, construct and implement a computerised
trauma registry within our service. Twelve months following its implementation, we
sought to examine and report on the quality of the registry.
Methodology
Formal ethical approval to maintain a computerised trauma registry was obtained prior
to undertaking any design and development. Appropriate commercial software was sourced
to develop this project. The registry was designed as a flat file. A flat file is
a plain text or mixed text and binary file which usually contains one record per line
or physical record. Thereafter the registry file was launched onto a secure server.
This provided the benefits of access security and automated backups. Registry training
was provided to clients by the developer. The exercise of data capture was then integrated
into the process of service delivery, taking place at the endpoint of patient care
(discharge, transfer or death). Twelve months following its implementation, the compliance
rates of data entry were measured.
Results
The developer of this project managed to design, construct and implement an electronic
trauma registry into the service. Twelve months following its implementation the data
were extracted and audited to assess the quality. A total of 2640 patient entries
were captured onto the registry. Compliance rates were in the order of eighty percent
and client satisfaction rates were high. A number of deficits were identified. These
included the omission of weekend discharges and underreporting of deaths.
Conclusion
The construction and implementation of the computerised trauma registry was the beginning
of an endeavour to continue improvements in the quality of care within our service.
The registry provided a reliable audit at twelve months post implementation. Deficits
and limitations were identified and new strategies have been planned to overcome these
problems and integrate the trauma registry into the process of clinical care.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
May 22,
2013
Identification
Copyright
© 2013 Elsevier Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
