Cost effectiveness in trauma care.

The above discussion brings together a vast body of data that together proclaim with fervent clarity: Traumatic injuries are expensive. The expense is paid in productive lives lost, in permanent disability, in pain and suffering, and in health care resources consumed. As local and regional trauma systems struggle for development and survival, competition for the health care dollar casts in the additional necessity of providing the service of trauma care with maximum efficiency. Despite the variety of cost-efficiency measures described above, a majority of trauma centers continue to operate "in the red." Such cannot continue indefinitely. Fiscal responsibility dictates that health care institutions must balance budgets in order to maintain operations. Four primary strategies for cost containment appear from the above discussion: 1. Improve reimbursement rates from trauma patients. 2. Increase outside funding from government sources. 3. Improve cost efficiency of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures used in trauma patient management. 4. Increase efforts aimed at primary prevention of intentional and unintentional injuries. In the final analysis, most authors agree that the last strategy offers the best hope. As stated in their article, "The Economic Impact of Injuries," Harlan and colleagues conclude that "the most effective medical and cost reduction strategy would be prevention." The same article goes on to detail how greater funding for research into optimal prevention modalities could reap societal and economic benefits far beyond the value of the initial outlay. Yet such research funding continues to be inadequate. For every dollar spent on medical care of cancer patients, nine cents is directed to research. For every dollar spent on trauma care, less than a penny is spent on research. Until the public recognizes the terrible toll trauma extracts in lives, livelihood, and money wasted and until it realizes the pre-eminent importance of prevention, care of the trauma patient cannot truly achieve cost efficiency.