Trauma Center Association Of America Inc

Annual conferencetcaa provides a comprehensive trauma conference annually for all trauma centers, both members and nonmembers. To assure trauma centers are successful in clinical and operational matters, the tcaa provides the following courses at their annual conference: an annual meeting (with general sessions, poster presentations which address key national trauma issues and an annual business meeting); two trauma medical director courses (basic and advanced) to educate physicians about business, clinical care and leadership skills in their challenging administrative roles; two trauma center finance & business courses (basic and advanced) to instruct trauma center leaders on financial and operational topics; a trauma center dynamic leadership course to create a strategic plan to improve the trauma program, overcome barriers, and explore human resource principles; and a post traumatic mental health workshop to focus on the mental health problems and hidden wounds facing trauma patients and their families.

Exhibits:the organization's staff participates in five to ten annual industry trade shows attended by trauma professionals nationwide to recruit new members, share best practices and educate trauma personnel.

Hawaii trauma site surveys and finance consult visits:tcaa provides trauma site surveys with the objective to provide trauma medical directors, trauma nurse coordinators and hospital administrators with information to assist in the development of their respective facilities as trauma centers.the hawaii site surveys include the following components:provide a site survey team consisting of a trauma surgeon and a trauma nurse. The team focuses on the key commitment and performance requirements established by hawaii dept. Of health, emergency medical services and injury prevention branch. The site survey team evaluates the operations of the trauma center by reviewing a written application from each hospital to be surveyed; conducts pre-scheduled, physician-led site visits in each of the applicant hospitals; provides a written report for each applicant trauma center; works in collaboration with emergency medical services and injury prevention branch of hawaii dept. Of health to make a determination of each applicant trauma's status and recommends actions needed to assure the hospital meets or takes action to meet the expectation of a hospital functioning at a level consistent with its application; and verifies whether the applicant meets the state's criteria to be designated level iii trauma centers. Tcaa also provides trauma center finance consult visits to examine the hospital's current operations and identify areas of opportunity for improved performance. Tcaa collaborates with the hospital staff to review hospital accounts for facility services. The team evaluates trauma specific coding for completeness, compliance and accuracy. Based on the assessment, tcaa will present a detailed report to provide actional solutions and recommendations to increase efficiency.

Marketing & public relations:as a public health service, the organization engages in marketing and public relations to better inform the public of the essential nature of care of the injured. The organization engages in public advocacy to increase public funding for trauma centers.in addition, the organization supports the efforts of other organizations to build a system of universal access to trauma center care throughout the united states. Additionally, tcaa provides a trauma fellowship program with the objective of increasing the number of trauma program leaders who are knowledgeable about trauma center finance and operational issues using tools and materials available through tcaa. The selected fellow participants assist tcaa staff to respond to member queries for information and data, tcaa committee conference calls, and confer with tcaa's president on tcaa member advisory conference calls.

Membership:tcaa serves as a resource to trauma centers to foster stable, high quality, cost effective trauma care throughout the united states, and to encourage innovation and excellence. Tcaa provides comprehensive information for all trauma center operational and financial needs and connects its member hospitals to other trauma centers and systems. Membership includes over 450+ trauma center hospitals in 46 states plus the district of columbia and at least 12 state/regional trauma agencies responsible for trauma system development and oversight. Tcaa is the premier source for trauma center information. Members receive individualized advice from the nation's most experienced consultants in trauma center operations finance, and trauma systems. The tcaa houses an extensive information warehouse about trauma center finances and operations so that members never need to invent something that has already been developed. Tcaa trauma centers have the most up-to-date advice on coding and billing compliance, optimizing revenue and collections, know how to reduce costs and workload, and keep abreast of state and federal initiatives to help fund their operations. Members also have multiple documents and cms advisories about the trauma ub-04 response team charges because the tcaa wrote the application for them.member services include:* monitoring ub-04 code* financial reports for benchmarking* job descriptions* physician relations and compensation strategies* payer strategies and managed care contracts* trauma fte and salary comparisons* model policies and procedures* practical guidelines and protocols* best practices* management tactics* best performer networking* rapid answers to technical problems* educational offerings via courses, webinars and an online learning system* advocacy* consulting services by phone

Advocacy and lobbying:tcaa has the ability to engage in political advocacy on behalf of trauma centers and systems. The advocacy committee is comprised of government relations professionals from our nation's leading trauma centers along with trauma center leaders. The organization developed a detailed advocacy strategy which aligns with its federal legislative agenda. Tcaa is working with a nationally recognized lobbying firm. Current initiatives supported by the tcaa advocacy committee are: enacting legislation and securing funding for military incorporation in civilian trauma centers, enacting legislation and securing funding for a national system of trauma care, monitor trauma and disaster revenue codes, and support improved reimbursement for trauma care. In addition, the tcaa works to educate the general public and policymakers on the definition of trauma care and the services trauma centers provide. Trauma centers play an enhanced role during times of mass casualties due to terrorism and non-human related disasters.