The Bottom Line

The future of trauma surgery needs talented surgeons. And talented surgeons come with families, partners, children, aging parents, communities, interests, and lives outside the hospital.

Geriatric suicide prevention should not be viewed as solely a behavioral-health issue. For trauma centers, it is also an injury-prevention issue.

Trauma centers are an important but sometimes underused partner in suicide prevention.

Geriatric trauma is changing. The number of older adults requiring trauma care is increasing, but more importantly, trauma programs are developing a better understanding of the complexity of caring for these patients. Geriatric PI should evolve with that understanding.

Building geriatric trauma capability doesn't have to begin with a new service line, a large committee, or an expensive program. Start with the data, identify the problems, intervene, and measure results.

The trauma surgeon still needs to be the expert in trauma. What may need to change is the composition of the team around that surgeon.

Hospitals must design geriatric trauma care so that high-quality care and financial sustainability reinforce each other.

An increase in the number of geriatric trauma patients appearing in trauma data likely reflects both a real increase in the burden of injury and changes in how injured older adults are identified and counted.

As the trauma population ages, trauma centers will need to evolve from a model focused primarily on treating injuries to one that also accounts for frailty, function, cognition, comorbidities, goals of care, and the patient's ability to return to their previous life.

Some departures are predictable. Others are not. Either way, the best time to plan for a TPM transition is before you need to.

TPM departure has costs that extend well beyond recruitment: interim leadership, overtime, consulting expenses, lost productivity, stalled projects, weakened relationships, delayed performance improvement, and months of lost momentum.

Somewhere near the bottom of the job description for a Trauma Program Manager you will find the familiar phrase: “Other duties as assigned.” What are those duties?

Trauma Program Coordinators support and coordinate the work, Trauma Program Managers oversee day-to-day operations and accountability, and Trauma Program Directors provide broader strategic leadership and organizational authority.

Trauma surgeon compensation is ultimately about more than physician billing. Because much of their work generates fewer billable revenue than elective surgery, hospitals have developed several compensation models for trauma surgeons.

Hospitals that intentionally invest in APP recruitment, training, and integration today will be better positioned to meet the growing demands of trauma care tomorrow.

PRMCE has invested in a model where surgeons are physically present in the hospital around the clock and focus exclusively on acute care surgery during their shifts.

Trauma call structures vary considerably across the country. The right model affects physician satisfaction, patient outcomes, recruitment, financial performance, and long-term sustainability of the trauma program.

What happens if a hospital doesn't meet the standards? The answer is: It depends.