Trauma Appropriateness Payment

Background

The Victorian State Trauma System (VSTS) was established following a review of trauma outcomes in Victoria: the Rotes Report 1999. Integral to the success of the VSTS is the responsibility of hospitals to transfer major trauma patients to a Major Trauma Service (MTS). MTSs are best positioned to provide definitive care due to the timely and vast specialist services they provide. Major trauma patients can be triaged and transferred to other hospitals that provide a higher level of care, for further stabilisation if required and then transferred to a MTS for definitive care.

Process

The Department of Human Services (the department) and the Victorian Trauma Foundation (VTF) established the Victorian State Trauma Outcomes Registry and Monitoring Group (VSTORM) to monitor and evaluate the VSTS.
Metropolitan and Regional Data Coordinators underpin this Registry and are responsible for collecting quarterly trauma data from all participating VSTORM Victorian hospitals. The Registry has established ethics approval, and subsequently collects data, from 130 Victorian hospitals.

The MTSs provide quarterly Major Trauma Reports to the department. The department analyses and processes the data, prior to allocating a Trauma Appropriateness Payment (TAP) to public hospitals that refer patients directly to one of three MTSs: The Royal Melbourne Hospital, The Alfred and or The Royal Children’s Hospital.

Funding

The TAP is in part recognition of the financial impact on public hospitals that refer and transport trauma patients to Major Trauma Services (MTSs).

The department has committed $900,000 for the Trauma Appropriateness Payment (TAP) for year 2004-2005. This funding agreement consists of:

• Metropolitan hospitals allocated $2000.00 per major trauma patient: - and
• Regional hospitals allocated $3000.00 per major trauma patient.

The department will provide TAP to both Regional and Metropolitan hospitals that transfer major trauma patients directly to a MTS. Hospitals, to be eligible for TAPs, are required to provide trauma data to the Victorian State Trauma Outcomes Registry and Monitoring Group (VSTORM) database.

Do you have any questions?

If you require any more information about the TAP go to the contacts page

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