For EMS transports, the destination facility must usually have an ID code issued by your state trauma registry.
For any EMS transport, most state trauma registries require not only the name and street address of the destination, but also its state-issued facility code.
Facility Codes are Issued by Your State Trauma Registry
Your state trauma registry assigns facility codes to major medical facilities in your state -- to hospitals, sometimes to nursing homes and dialysis centers. These codes are included in your state's facility list, which is published on the NEMSIS TAC website. To find yours, do this:
- Visit the NEMSIS TAC website.
- Click your state.
- Click the red "State Data Set" button.
- Select "Facilities".
This facility list must be imported into AngelTrack. This was done for you when your AngelTrack server was first deployed, but it is your responsibility to keep the facility list updated with changes that your state trauma makes from time to time. To learn how to do this, look at the Facility List Import/Update Guide.
eDisposition.02 / "Destination Transferred To - Code"
The word "eDisposition.02" is the internal name of the NEMSIS datafield used to transmit the state facility code for the destination.
Its formal name is "Destination Transferred To - Code", and you may see this phrase mentioned in a state data validation error message.
If a software app or state official mentions either of those terms, they are referring to the need for each transport to specify the state facility code of the chosen destination.
Why Does This Matter So Much?
The reason why state facility codes are so important, is because they are used for trauma registry data exchange.
If you transport a patient to a hospital, and if you correctly include the hospital's state facility code, then your state trauma registry can automatically forward your PCR data to the hospital. The hospital's system can then automatically attach your PCR data to the patient's chart, with the goal of improving patient care.
Generic Facility Codes
Many state trauma registries also issue generic codes, which are used in lieu of an explicit facility code for an unlisted location. For example, if you are transporting a patient to a residence, your state might have a generic facility code for "Residential home" or "Patient residence". It might have an ID code like "99999".
Your state might even have a variety of generic facility codes, like "Other hospital", "Unlisted location", "Other nursing home", "Landing zone", "Jail", or "Out of state facility".
AngelTrack has your state's generic facility codes already on-board, and will automatically utilize them when reporting a transport to an unlisted location. AngelTrack will pick from among the choices of generic code by examining the "Type of destination" field that the attending input into the Followup.
For example, suppose you perform a transport to a hospital that doesn't have a facility record attached as the destination... or maybe the attached facility record is homemade and so doesn't have a state code. When the attending fills out the Followup, he will select "Hospital - Emergency room" as the type of destination. AngelTrack will then know to use an "Other hospital" generic facility code, if any is available, for the report; otherwise, AngelTrack will try to find an "Other unlisted" generic code to use. If no appropriate generic code is available, then AngelTrack will report "[Not recorded]"... which is likely to cause a data validation failure.
To see whether AngelTrack is utilizing a generic facility code for a transport, visit the PCR Home page for the trip, and find the "Facility code" indicator in the trip summary.
If you report too many trips with generic facility codes, your state trauma registry might complain. It might then be necessary to retrain your dispatchers to always attach a facility record as the destination, wherever possible. It might also be necessary to update your facility list with fresh data from the state.
Homemade Facility Records / Adding Your Own Facilities
Naturally you can add as many facility records as you list to your facility list, to capture all of your business relationships with frequently-visited locations that aren't already in your state's facility list. For example, many state facility lists include only hospitals, and so you will need to add homemade facility records for your nursing homes, frequent-flier patient residences, dialysis centers, urgent-care facilities, and the like.
Your homemade facility records won't have state facility codes. If you like, you can view your state's facility list from the NEMSIS TAC website (see instructions above), and find the appropriate generic facility code, such as "Other medical clinic" or "Unlisted nursing home" or whatever fits. Or, you can leave the facility code field blank, and AngelTrack will auto-pick a generic facility code as needed, based on the facility's type. For this to work well, you must specify the facility's type when you create its record. If you skip that step, then AngelTrack will try to auto-set the facility's type by monitoring what "Type of destination" the attending chooses (in the Followup) for a transport to that facility.
Keeping Your Facility List Updated
If your state publishes its facility list on the NEMSIS TAC website in the standard way, then AngelTrack can quickly import it for you, refreshing all of your facility records with the latest data. This can include name changes (as occur during business mergers), address changes (such as a hospital reporting its address on a main street rather than a cross street), and newly-issued facility codes.
Obviously, a facility list update will affect only those records in the trauma registry's list. Your homemade facility records won't be touched, except in the rare case that your homemade record refers to a location that becomes officially recognized by the trauma registry, in which case AngelTrack will add the state-issued code to the facility record.
To learn more, refer to the Facility List Import/Update Guide.