Burn patient registries in the United States: a survey

The Committee on Organization and Delivery of Burn Care of the American Burn Association conducted a survey among burn care facilities to determine the extent of interest in development and maintenance of computerized patient registries. Initial questionnaires were mailed to 178 burn care facilities. Responses were obtained from 112 (62.9%). Eighty-seven (77%) of the responders indicated that they have some form of registry. Thirty-five of these registries were in the form of handwritten logbooks, while 43 were personal computers with a wide variety of hardware and software. Uses of these registries include patient census and reports (64% of responders), clinical research (62%), patient care (61%), and, less common, quality assurance and education. Twenty-five facilities stated that they do not maintain a registry, but 22 (88%) of them indicated interest in developing one. It seems unlikely that a single system could be designed to fill the needs of all facilities, nor is it likely that existing registries can be "networked" successfully. This is due not only to the diversity of data in the existing registries, but also to the important differences in the way basic terminology is used in different facilities. For burn care facilities interested in developing their own registry, a selected list of successful representative registries is provided.