1. DSHS, Environmental & Injury Epidemiology and Toxicology
Using EMS/Trauma Registry Data: What Questions Are You Trying to Answer?
Thank you for the opportunity to provide information to the committee regarding available data and how our stakeholders may gain access to the data. As you know, DSHS is working with the Trauma Systems Committee State EMS-Trauma Registry Workgroup to identify reports the stakeholders would like to have available through the Texas EMS/Trauma Registry. Today, we will be discussing how stakeholders may obtain a data file to perform analysis outside of the EMS/Trauma Registry. Trauma Fundamental purpose of data collection is to use the information – used to target interventions, identify areas of system improvement, evaluate interventions and system improvements
Statutory stated purpose of EMS/Trauma Registry is ‘(to improve trauma services)’
This presentation is designed to demonstrate examples of reports that can be made available in the new EMS/T Registry system and encourage participants to change the perspective when requesting information/suggesting reports, ie rather than ‘I want xxx’, thinking in terms of ‘I want to know xxx’
John Hellsten, PhD
Kristi Metzger, PhD
DSHS, Environmental & Injury Epidemiology and Toxicology

2. What we will cover today:
Access to Texas EMS/Trauma Registry Data
Confidential patient data
Public Use Data File
Most recent data available
How to obtain data

3. Access to Confidential Patient Data
DSHS will provide an electronic data file to stakeholders who have authorized access to receive the data. This data file contains confidential patient data.
Individual entity data
All entities for which you are the medical director
All entities for which a RAC has a BAA
Many Medical Directors may have access already through their own data systems to the entity’s data for which they are the Medical Director. Some RACs have regional registries and have access to data in their registry. An individual entity may also have their own software and therefore have access to their own data. However, if an entity, Medical Director, RAC or any other authorized user of the account needs access to the data for which they are authorized to access, then they may request an electronic file of this data from DSHS.

4. How to Request a Confidential Data File
Please send an to:
Please include:
Your name and phone number
The names of the entities for which you have authorized access and for which you request a data file
The year of data you are requesting
DSHS will send the data in an encrypted
DSHS will verify that you are authorized to have access to the data and upon verification will prepare a data file and send it via encrypted .

5. Public Use Data File Statewide data file
Does not contain protected health information (PHI):
There are 18 PHI identified funder HIPAA. Here is the list of PHI that is collected by the Texas EMS/Trauma Registry
1. Names; 2. All geographical subdivisions smaller than a State, including street address, city, county, precinct, zip code, and their equivalent geocodes, except for the initial three digits of a zip code, if according to the current publicly available data from the Bureau of the Census: (1) The geographic unit formed by combining all zip codes with the same three initial digits contains more than 20,000 people; and (2) The initial three digits of a zip code for all such geographic units containing 20,000 or fewer people is changed to All elements of dates (except year) for dates directly related to an individual, including birth date, admission date, discharge date, date of death; and all ages over 89 and all elements of dates (including year) indicative of such age, except that such ages and elements may be aggregated into a single category of age 90 or older; 7. Social Security numbers; 8. Medical record numbers; 18. Any other unique identifying number, characteristic, or code (note this does not mean the unique code assigned by the investigator to code the data)

6. What is available in the PUDF?
PUDF_EMS.doc
PUDF_Hospital.doc

7. EMS Data Collected by TR
EMS data include:
Call type (medical, trauma, medical & trauma, etc)
Run type (911, emergency transfer, mutual aid, etc.)
Date, time (dispatch, arrival, departure)
Patient demographics
Vital signs
Cause and type of injury
Procedures
Suspected illnesses

8. Hospital Data Collected by TR
Hospital data include:
Patient demographics
Glasgow Coma Scale at admission
Revised trauma score at admission
Diagnosis, cause of injury, and severity scores
Pre-hospital data, transport and transfer status
Patient hospital charges

9. Most recent data available
2011 is the most recent data available.
DSHS will create the PUDF for 2012 records in August 2013.
DSHS will link EMS to Hospital records starting with 2013 data. The linked data file will be prepared in August of 2014.

10. Manager, DSHS Epidemiology Studies & Initiatives Branch
Questions?
Tammy Sajak
Manager, DSHS Epidemiology Studies & Initiatives Branch