Identification of trauma patients at a level 1 trauma center utilizing natural language processing

Trauma centers use trauma registries to collect information on injured patients they receive. The information is used for evaluation of care rendered, research, system and process improvement, and evaluation of injury prevention programs. Identification of patients qualifying for inclusion in registries can be problematic. Searching for those who meet inclusion criteria is often time consuming and inefficient. This has changed at a Salt Lake City trauma center, with an application designed to automate the process of identifying trauma patients. This program uses natural language processing and decision support technologies and is in daily use by the trauma team registry personnel.