TraumaFlow—development of a workflow-based clinical decision support system for the management of severe trauma cases

Abstract

PURPOSE: The treatment of severely injured patients in the resuscitation room of an emergency department requires numerous critical decisions, often under immense time pressure, which places very high demands on the facility and the interdisciplinary team. Computer-based cognitive aids are a valuable tool, especially in education and training of medical professionals. For the management of polytrauma cases, TraumaFlow, a workflow management-based clinical decision support system, was developed. The system supports the registration and coordination of activities in the resuscitation room and actively recommends diagnosis and treatment actions. METHODS: Based on medical guidelines, a resuscitation room algorithm was developed according to the cABCDE scheme. The algorithm was then modeled using the process description language BPMN 2.0 and implemented in a workflow management system. In addition, a web-based user interface that provides assistance functions was developed. An evaluation study was conducted with 11 final-year medical students and three residents to assess the applicability of TraumaFlow in a case-based training scenario. RESULTS: TraumaFlow significantly improved guideline-based decision-making, provided more complete therapy, and reduced treatment errors. The system was shown to be beneficial not only for the education of low- and medium-experienced users but also for the training of highly experienced physicians. 92% of the participants felt more confident with computer-aided decision support and considered TraumaFlow useful for the training of polytrauma treatment. In addition, 62% acknowledged a higher training effect. CONCLUSION: TraumaFlow enables real-time decision support for the treatment of polytrauma patients. It improves guideline-based decision-making in complex and critical situations and reduces treatment errors. Supporting functions, such as the automatic treatment documentation and the calculation of medical scores, enable the trauma team to focus on the primary task. TraumaFlow was developed to support the training of medical students and experienced professionals. Each training session is documented and can be objectively and qualitatively evaluated.

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