American College of Surgeons Verification of Level II Trauma Centers Improves Mortality

Most states base their trauma system levels on the American College of Surgeons (ACS) verification process, yet not all states require ACS verification and the rigor with which states verify trauma centers varies substantially. Investigators retrospectively reviewed the National Trauma Databank for 2007 to 2008 to compare mortality at 246 ACS-verified trauma centers and 128 state-designated trauma centers without ACS verification. The study included 900,274 adult patients.

ACS verification was independently associated with improved survival at level II centers (odds ratio, 1.26), but was not associated with survival at level I centers. Mortality varied more among state-designated centers than among ACS-verified centers.