Determining appropriate use of an air medical program.
The Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System (TISS) was evaluated as an instrument to determine appropriate use of an air medical program (AMP) from a retrospective standpoint. TISS scores of 376 consecutive patient transports to the sponsor institution were compared to two other methods of judging appropriateness of air transport: a chart review and a review of patient outcome which included length of hospital stay, need for emergency surgery, mortality rates, and Trauma Scores. Statistically significant correlations were found between the TISS and the other two methods. We concluded that the TISS is a valid instrument for use in determining the appropriateness of air medical transports. The TISS is used as a quality assurance tool during retrospective, bi-weekly patient review sessions; and follow-up on appropriate use of the helicopter is provided to referring and receiving agencies accordingly.
D000401:Aircraft; D000552:Ambulances / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003625:Data Collection; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006746:Hospital Bed Capacity, 500 and over; D009657:North Carolina; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices; D014600:Utilization Review / Q000379:methods*