Trauma System Planning

Arizona State Trauma Advisory Board
Phoenix, AZ

The Abaris Group developed a comprehensive trauma system plan for the State of Arizona. The project was interesting in that there were two large, very well developed urban areas in Arizona (Phoenix and Tucson) and the rest of the state is rural. The Arizona Trauma System Plan defines and integrates the analysis of trauma system needs for service delivery, funding, design and access at both urban and rural levels. Initially, The Abaris Group conducted an overall needs assessment of the current trauma system in Arizona. This included the following:

• analyzing current data on trauma patient demand and its impact
• evaluating current trauma system delivery methods via regional stakeholder meetings, provider interviews (pre-hospital and hospital), and on-site visits to all 60 resource hospitals in the state
• conducting a comprehensive demographic, epidemiological and financial analysis for Arizona using the Hospital Trauma Data Set
• designing a collaborative decision-making model
• promoting and training resource hospitals on the use of the statewide Trauma Registry

Once the needs assessment was completed, The Abaris Group wrote the first draft of the Arizona Trauma System Plan. It is made up of several components including:

• comprehensive statewide trauma system plan
• trauma center designation standards
• accreditation manual
• detailed quality assurance procedures
• strategies to implement the plan

The Abaris Group focused on receiving input from all interested stakeholders and melding those views into a cohesive, consensus-based plan for Arizona. In addition to the above work , we also worked with the State Trauma Advisory Board to develop a governance structure to oversee the trauma system.