Digital Transformation of Trauma Data Collection Patients In ED

Aim

To build a state-wide trauma data platform integrating live feeds from clinical systems  and AI-based case identification - enabling real-time trauma surveillance, outcome tracking, and quality improvement across Queensland Health.

Outcomes

Delivered an Australian-first remote trauma data model, supporting 110+ public hospitals  across all 16 HHSs

• Developed with the Clinical Business Intelligence (CBI) Unit, enabling data automation and clinician access
• Integrated real-time feeds from EDIS, Cerner (FirstNet), Pathology, HBCIS, and ICU (Metavision)

Underway:

• Future integration  with Queensland Radiology Information System (QRIS)
• Deployed two live AI models to identify traffic crash and injury cases in ED data
• Reduced manual data entry by 40% and improved completeness by 27%
• Feedback cycles reduced from weeks to days
• Supports Trauma Outcome Indicator Framework, QTCN Clinical Indicators, and trauma research
• Informed new clinical pathways such as the Silver Trauma Guideline and Referring Hospital Trauma Pathway

Background

The Queensland Trauma Clinical Network (QTCN) established the QTDC in response to the  2019 Deloitte Trauma Evaluation, which highlighted a lack of standardised trauma data as a major system weakness. Before QTDC, Queensland had no statewide visibility on trauma volumes, types, or clinical outcomes. QTDC, hosted by Gold Coast HHS, has transformed  trauma surveillance using a remote, real-time, automated model. It connects over 110 hospitals through structured data feeds and innovative tools, such as machine learning for automated trauma case detection. QTDC now underpins major statewide initiatives,  informing policy, funding, and frontline decision-making.

Discussion

QTDC now powers trauma system performance monitoring, research, and clinical quality  initiatives across Queensland Health. It enables early identification of systemic issues (e.g. interhospital transfer delays, geography-based outcome variation) and provides visibility of trauma outside major centres—40% of major trauma is managed at non-trauma  centres. The platform also supports emerging initiatives such as long-term trauma survivorship tracking and AI-based data enhancement.

Two AI models are live in production. These tools reduce clinician screening time and improve registry capture rates. QTDC  insights directly informed the development of the Silver Trauma Guideline, a standardised care approach for older trauma patients, and the Referring Hospital Trauma Pathway, which supports consistent referral practices and decision-making for rural and regional  hospitals. These clinician-facing outcomes demonstrate the tangible benefit of statewide data in transforming care delivery. QTDC is a proven, high-impact platform that demonstrates the power of data, automation, and collaboration to improve trauma outcomes  now—and into the future.

References

• QTDC Annual Report 2024
• CEQ Strategy 2023–2027
• Deloitte Trauma Evaluation 2019
• Abdel-hafez A, Gardiner B. Artificial Intelligence for Trauma Registry in Emergency Departments, 2024
• AIHW Trauma Statistics
• ANZTR Dataset Dictionary
• CBI Data Governance Framework