Automation of hospital child abuse reports

Child abuse medical expertise has expanded but the application of that knowledge varies and there is little data on that variation. Many hospitals do not even know how many child abuse reports they make. The secrecy of investigation and confidentiality claimed for medical records block information sharing. What is clear is that the process in many hospitals is unclear. The ICAN California Hospital Network moves to a more vigorous and measured model in all hospitals. Hospital child abuse reports will be captured in a computer data base that can be analyzed to help monitor reporting and track cases that have been reported. A similar hospital network was created in LA County, 1981-1986 starting with the six hospitals that had SCAN teams and a central data count. That grew to 30 hospitals with SCAN Teams by 1986 and reports increased dramatically. Today there are 126 hospitals statewide with liaison in a directory and a growing group of hospitals building computer data systems. Multiple software models will be presented including the web based ICAN model that is designed for rapid simple data entry or complex data with attached medical records. Burn, birth and PICU units from different hospitals will share their unique view experience. Joint case management with hospitals may replace agencies working in isolation. Fatal and severe cases will connect to Child Death Review. Case examples, data systems and software will be used to explain this program serving 37 million people. Others with such systems may join a national work group.