Head & Spinal Cord Injury

The Missouri Head Injury Advisory Council was established in 1986 when Section 192.737, RSMo was enacted. This statute required the Department of Health to establish and maintain an information registry and reporting system for the purpose of data collection and needs assessment of head and spinal cord injured persons in Missouri. On July 1, 1987, the Department of Health implemented the Head and Spinal Cord Injury Registry to meet this requirement.

Section 190.241, RSMo, enacted in 1987, required all hospitals that are designated trauma centers to submit to the Department of Health data on patients that meet criteria set by the Missouri State Advisory Council on Emergency Medical Systems. The Department of Health implemented the Trauma Registry in 1990 to comply with this requirement. Data elements submitted to the Trauma Registry are the same as those required for the Head and Spinal Cord Injury Registry.

Each hospital can use the registry system to track both pre-hospital and hospital performance to measure compliance with established standards and then identify and correct deficiencies found. The hospital’s trauma quality assurance committee will find that the trauma registry is an invaluable tool for improving its trauma program and proving its effectiveness.

The name, age and residence of the injured person, the date and cause of injury, and the diagnosis are specifically required by law and are reported to the state department on the Head and Spinal Cord Injury/Trauma Registry report form (MO 5801118). The name is needed to trace the patient from one medical institution to another, such as a rehabilitation facility, to determine a patient’s final outcome.