The Effect of Joining the ASSH Hand Trauma Center Network on the Volume and Severity of Pediatric Hand Trauma Transfers.

Purpose: The purpose of our study was to evaluate how the volume and severity of pediatric hand trauma is affected after enrollment into the American Society for Surgery of the Hand Trauma Center Network. Methods: We performed a retrospective review using the patient database from our affiliated level-I pediatric trauma center. With this patient database, we compiled all emergent hand trauma transfers from February 2018 to January 2022. We compared the monthly volume, Injury Severity Score, and quarterly payor status between hand trauma transfer patients before and after enrollment into the Hand Trauma Center Network in February 2019. Results: The average number of monthly transfers increased after joining the Hand Trauma Center Network compared with the years after February 2019. Additionally, the percentage of patients using commercial insurance increased after joining the Hand Trauma Center Network when compared with that before February 2019. Lastly, the percentage of patients using Medicaid decreased after February 2019. Conclusions: Based on our findings, we believe that new institutions and providers can expect anywhere from a 10% to a 60% increase in hand trauma burden without a significant change in the severity of the trauma cases after joining the network. Type of study/level of evidence: Prognostic IV.