A hundred hospitals andcomputer technology connect resources for child abuse prevention/ intervention

One hundred hospitals form a working network and 20+ of those hospitals are creating computer systems to help manage child abuse reporting. Early work with ICD9CM codes for child abuse failed to provide the tools needed for case management. Actual child abuse reports were seen as a better common language within and between hospitals but there was no easy way to work with handwritten, paper reports often in separate files. Hospitals focused on inpatient child injuries under age three for a more finite manageable beginning. Inpatient injuries are generally more severe with more exposure to medical evaluation and staff observations. Ages 0-3 includes the highest rate of child abuse and severe injury. Four data management concepts are underway. 1) Five major pediatric hospitals and a chain of thirteen hospitals will work with medical record systems and create a central record of child abuse reports. A daily computer review of new admissions adds quality assurance. 2) A more common model involves a computer spreadsheet that captures significant factors. This creates a data set that can be analyzed for quality assurance. 3) A major chain will connect 13 regional hospitals and may add another dozen. 4) Finally models are being collected from other states. Hospitals have done similar work in isolation. Now they will be connected. A netbook, tablet has been developed to capture handwritten data as if using paper. Working groups have begun. Child abuse investigation agencies have joined with an interest in converting fax reports to a files that can be managed in a digital system. State hospital discharge data provides statewide standardized measurements. Data and data models will be shared in what may become a national system. A parallel effort decades ago, began the first child death review that spread to 10 nations.