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.
Keywords
RFID - quality improvement - trauma verification - automation
