California's Trauma Care: System Capacity and Demand

Publication Date: September 2002

Publisher: California HealthCare Foundation

Author(s): Policy and Management University of Southern California. Center for Health Financing

Research Area: Health

Type: Brief

Coverage: California

Abstract:

In recent years, California's system of 46 trauma centers has been increasingly reported as being in financial jeopardy. The apparent crisis in trauma care has led public officials to consider legislative solutions. In spite of these reports of crisis and proposed solutions, no comprehensive examination of California's trauma centers exists. This issue brief evaluates California's trauma system and provides the public, health professionals, and legislators with data to make informed decisions about trauma services in the state. The study employed three data sources:

*Data from the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development provided trends in use and capacity of emergency departments at trauma centers; *Emergency department patient waiting times were obtained directly by trained data collectors during 800 hours of observation in a random sample of 30 California hospitals; and *Observations and opinions of trauma providers were gathered during a series of eight focus groups with 57 professionals, including trauma directors, trauma nurse coordinators, trauma system administrators, and prehospital care coordinators.