Implementation of a Neurotrauma Hotline for post-hospital continuity of care

There are 4.8 million emergency department (ED) visits for traumatic brain injury (TBI) annually in the United States. Many of these patients do not receive educational information or follow-up care.

Our institution implemented a Neurotrauma Hotline for TBI patients. This study describes our implementation and utilization of a Neurotrauma Hotline at a Level I trauma center.

Callers and outcomes of calls to the hotline over a 12-month period were analyzed. Correlation analysis was done to assess relationship between hotline calls and TBI clinic volumes.

There were 1205 calls to the hotline. Calls were most commonly from internal providers or patients, with 338 repeat callers. The call reason was frequently an appointment (36.8%) or advice (32.1%). There were 334 TBI clinic visits, and however, there was no statistically significant correlation between number of hotline calls and number of clinic visits (r = .417; P = .177).

There was widespread utilization of our hotline. Other institutions wishing to adopt similar practices can expect that the majority of calls will be for appointment scheduling or clinical advice. Further work is needed to determine whether implementation of a Neurotrauma Hotline improves resource utilization and patient outcomes.