Dr. Zain Hashmi, TRUCARE Principal Investigator

A newly funded project from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is working to ensure that where someone lives doesn’t determine the quality of trauma care they receive after a serious injury.

The TRUCARE (Developing a Teletrauma Implementation Toolkit for Early Point-of-Care Delivery of Trauma Care Expertise to Injured Rural Patients) project is led by Mohammad Zain (Zain) Hashmi, MD, a trauma surgeon and Director of Teletrauma at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Dr. Hashmi is nationally recognized for his research on rural trauma care, injury disparities, and the use of telehealth to improve access to life-saving trauma expertise.

For millions of Americans living in rural communities, getting to a trauma center after a serious injury can take precious time. Nearly 30 million rural residents lack timely access to specialized trauma care, contributing to poorer outcomes and unnecessary transfers to distant hospitals.

Rather than relying on phone calls between hospitals hours after an injury occurs, TRUCARE will explore how teletrauma—real-time video consultation between rural emergency departments and trauma specialists—can bring expert guidance to the patient’s bedside immediately. This approach has transformed stroke care nationwide, yet only about 8% of U.S. emergency departments currently use teletrauma, leaving enormous room for improvement.

The project will develop the nation’s first teletrauma implementation toolkit—a practical guide to help hospitals build sustainable teletrauma programs. Researchers will work closely with trauma clinicians, telehealth experts, rural healthcare providers, patients, and advocacy organizations to identify which injuries are best suited for teletrauma and determine the tools, workflows, and best practices needed for successful implementation.

As a project partner, CNTR will provide scientific leadership and coordination for the study’s stakeholder engagement activities. Under the leadership of Michelle Price, PhD, CNTR will help design and conduct the project’s Delphi consensus process, contribute scientific guidance throughout the study, review manuscripts and other scholarly products, and assist with dissemination of the project’s findings to the national trauma community.

By helping hospitals adopt proven telehealth strategies, TRUCARE has the potential to improve access to expert trauma care, reduce unnecessary patient transfers, and ultimately save lives in rural communities across the country.