The trauma registry: a method for providing regional system audit using the microcomputer.

Medical accountability is an essential component of a system for trauma care. The microcomputerized regional trauma registry provides a simple method of providing accountability by integrating medical and system information to evaluate quality of care, adequacy of system criteria, and system compliance. The regional trauma registry is developed by identifying all patients who are suspected or known to have sustained a serious injury, whether or not they received trauma system care, and documenting their course from initial contact through final disposition. The microcomputer provides an inexpensive and readily available method for storing and evaluating the database. Information derived from the regional trauma registry is useful for profiling the nature and extent of trauma and for monitoring and modifying the system to improve patient access and medical care.