Minnesota, networking, new technology, and some unexpected takeaways!

Welcome back to The Trauma Pulse — A Podcast with a Purpose!

In Episode 10, I'm taking you along as I reflect on my experience attending the 2026 ImageTrend Conference in Minnesota.

Was it everything I expected? Not exactly. But sometimes the most valuable lessons come from experiences that challenge our expectations.

This week, we're talking about:

✈️ Networking Beyond the Conference Room — From meeting a complete stranger on my flight to setting a personal goal of connecting with at least three new people.

🤝 The Human Side of Conferences — Team bonding, Minnehaha Falls, and the importance of building relationships within our profession.

💻 The Evolution of Trauma Registry Software — Moving from paper abstraction to modern platforms, navigating software transitions, and what these changes mean for trauma professionals.

🤖 Artificial Intelligence & the Human Experience — How AI is changing our workflows and why human expertise remains essential.

💰 The Financial Reality — New technology brings exciting possibilities, but implementation costs can create significant challenges, especially for smaller and rural trauma centers.

⚖️ Equal Opportunities? — Are all trauma programs being given the same opportunities to advance technologically?

😬 The Anxiety Surrounding Change — Why even exciting technological advancements can feel overwhelming when you're the one responsible for learning and implementing them.

And most importantly, what did I actually bring home from Minnesota?

Not every conference has to exceed expectations to teach us something valuable. Sometimes the biggest takeaway is a new perspective.

💎 This Week's Pulse Pearl: Progress isn't just about adopting the newest technology. It's about making sure the people behind the data have the tools, resources, and support to move forward together.

📍 NEXT STOP: TQIP 2026 — CALIFORNIA!

Conference season isn't over, and I'll be bringing you along for the next chapter!

💬 THE PULSE LINE IS OPEN!

What are your thoughts on the future of trauma registry technology? Are you excited about AI and software advancements, or concerned about the costs and challenges of implementation?

Drop your thoughts in the comments. I'd love to hear from you!

🎙️ The Trauma Pulse — A Podcast with a Purpose

Consistency Creates Confidence.

📧 TheTraumaPulse@gmail.com

Subscribe and join our growing community of trauma registry professionals!

#TheTraumaPulse #TraumaRegistry #ImageTrend #TraumaData #TraumaProfessionals #ArtificialIntelligence #HealthcareTechnology #TraumaQualityImprovement #TQIP #ProfessionalDevelopment

Episode 9 | Conference Season Is Here! ✈️ | The Trauma Pulse

Minnesota now. California next month. Conference season is officially HERE!

In Episode 9 of The Trauma Pulse, we're talking about something that can be exciting, overwhelming, exhausting, and incredibly rewarding all at once — TRAUMA CONFERENCES!

Whether you're attending your very first conference or you've been going for years, there is always something new to learn, someone new to meet, and something valuable to bring back to your trauma center.

I'm heading to Minnesota for the ImageTrend conference, and next month I'll be traveling to California for TQIP!

In this episode, we're talking about:

✈️ How to prepare for conference season

👟 Why comfortable shoes and layers are absolute must-haves

👜 What to pack (and why you shouldn't bring your entire office!)

📝 How to choose sessions and take meaningful notes

🤝 Networking with strangers — even when it feels intimidating

🧠 Recognizing when your brain needs a break

❤️ Making time to explore, have fun, and enjoy the experience

💡 Turning conference inspiration into meaningful improvements at your trauma center

And most importantly, remembering that you don't have to do it all to make the experience worthwhile.

TODAY'S PULSE PEARL

You don't have to know everyone in the room.

You don't have to attend every session.

And you don't have to come home knowing everything.

Meet one person. Learn one thing. Bring one idea home.

Then… build from there.

❤️ THE PULSE LINE IS OPEN!

Have a question about trauma registry, coding, data quality, or performance improvement? Have a topic you'd love to hear discussed? Or maybe you just want to connect with someone who understands this work?

I'd love to hear from you!

📧 TheTraumaPulse@gmail.com

COMING UP IN EPISODE 10:

We're heading behind the scenes of the ImageTrend conference! I'll be sharing my experience, key takeaways, new ideas, and practical insights we can bring back to our trauma programs.

If you're passionate about trauma registry, data quality, performance improvement, or continuing to grow in this field, you're in the right place.

Subscribe to The Trauma Pulse and join a community of professionals who believe in learning, growing, and supporting one another.

The Trauma Pulse — A Podcast with a Purpose.

❤️ Consistency Creates Confidence.

#TheTraumaPulse #TraumaRegistry #TraumaRegistrar #ImageTrend #TQIP #TraumaConference #TraumaData #PerformanceImprovement #TraumaEducation #ProfessionalDevelopment

Trauma registrars spend our days reading some of the hardest moments of people’s lives—and turning those stories into clean, accurate data.

We learn to be objective. We follow the documentation. We code the injuries. We complete the record.

But sometimes, the chart closes before your brain does.

In Episode 8 of The Trauma Pulse, we’re talking about the charts that stay with us. Maybe the patient was your age. Maybe their child was the same age as yours. Maybe the circumstances hit close to home. Or maybe you can’t explain why that particular case stuck with you.

Because being objective doesn’t mean being unaffected.

We’ll talk about recognizing when a case has impacted you, giving yourself permission to pause and reset, supporting fellow trauma professionals without sharing confidential patient information, and remembering that the person doing the abstraction matters, too.

I’m also introducing THE PULSE LINE—a way for trauma professionals to submit questions, topics, documentation dilemmas, and conversations they think our community needs to have.

TheTraumaPulse@gmail.com

Subject: PULSE LINE

Please do not send patient-identifying or confidential information.

TODAY’S PULSE PEARL:

“Some charts close when you hit complete. Some take a little longer. Give yourself permission to recognize the difference.”

Every number in the registry started with a person.

Take care of your data.

Take care of your team.

And most importantly, take care of yourself.

Consistency Creates Confidence.

The Trauma Pulse — A Podcast With a Purpose

The chart is abstracted. The codes are selected. Now it’s time to compare notes.

In Episode 6, we worked through the fictional Lily Flamingo trauma case together. In Episode 7, I’m walking you through my abstraction decisions — from mechanism and injury coding to pre-existing conditions and the documentation details that influenced my choices.

We’ll talk through:

• Fall mechanism and location

• Forehead abrasion and contusion

• Pneumothorax and pulmonary contusion

• Multiple rib fractures — and why this wasn’t coded as flail chest

• Splenic injury

• Pelvic fractures

• L2 and L3 transverse process fractures

• Possible loss of consciousness and why I didn’t capture a head injury

• COPD as a pre-existing condition when emphysema is documented

• Why your current coding resources should ALWAYS be within reach

And remember:

Don’t abstract what you THINK happened. Only abstract what you can SUPPORT.

That one is worth repeating until it’s hammered into our brains.

Did you abstract something differently? Did you choose a different code? Have a coding pearl, question, suggestion, or topic you want covered in a future episode?

📧 TheTraumaPulse@gmail.com

I want to hear from you. Different interpretations give us an opportunity to open the coding books, talk through the documentation, and learn together.

Today’s PULSE Pearl:

“Don’t abstract what you think happened. Only abstract what you can support.”

Consistency Creates Confidence.

The Trauma Pulse — a podcast with a purpose.

#TheTraumaPulse #TraumaRegistry #TraumaRegistrar #TraumaData #TraumaCoding #AIS #ICD10CM #NTDS #TraumaEducation #Abstraction #TraumaProgram

The Trauma Pulse — Episode 6: Sit With Me While I Abstract: Can You Make the Call?

This week, we’re doing something different.

Meet Lily Flamingo, a fictional 37-year-old patient who fell approximately 14–16 feet from a ladder while working at a construction site.

You have the chart. You have your resources. Now—what would YOU abstract?

In this interactive episode, I’m working through Lily’s fictional medical record alongside you. But I’m not giving you all of my answers yet.

As you review the case, think about:

• What findings can you actually support?

• Which documentation sources did you use?

• Where did conflicting documentation make you stop?

• When did you need to go back to your resources?

• What would you abstract—and why?

Drop your answers, questions, and the places that made you pause in the comments.

Then come back next episode. We’ll compare answers, talk through the documentation sources, and work through the case together.

Pulse Pearl:

Being a trauma registrar does not mean knowing everything the second you open the chart. It means using your resources and ensuring you have the proper documentation to support what you abstract.

Because in trauma registry, Consistency Creates Confidence.

The Trauma Pulse — A Podcast with a Purpose

This episode uses a completely fictional patient and fictional medical record created for educational discussion.

#TheTraumaPulse #TraumaRegistry #TraumaRegistrar #TraumaData #TraumaEducation #NTDS #TQIP #TraumaProgram #HealthcareData

Episode 5: The Whole Chart Matters

Trauma registry isn’t about finding one perfect note. It’s about following the patient’s story across the entire medical record.

In Episode 5 of The Trauma Pulse, we follow fictional trauma patient Jordan Adams and look at how information develops from EMS → ED → imaging → provider documentation and beyond.

We’re talking about:

Why early documentation is only a snapshot in time

Finding vs. assuming

Words like possible and likely—and why they matter

Following the applicable definitions and guidelines for your registry

Taking notes while abstracting

Supporting what you abstract with documentation

Why we shouldn’t simply choose the answer that “makes the most sense”

What happens to our data after abstraction—and why its quality matters

Today’s Pulse Pearl:

The chart isn’t a collection of notes—it’s one story. Our job is to find those pieces without filling in the blanks ourselves.

And stay until the end for a preview of Episode 6, because we’re doing something completely different.

One patient. One chart. Start to finish.

I’ll be seeing a completely fictional trauma chart for the first time on camera and abstracting it with you in real time—including the moments when I need to stop, look something up, reconsider something, or change direction.

Because experienced registrars don’t know everything.

We learn where to look.

Subscribe and join me next Monday for Episode 6.

The Trauma Pulse — A Podcast with a Purpose

Consistency Creates Confidence.

#TraumaRegistry #TraumaRegistrar #TraumaData #TraumaEducation #DataQuality #TheTraumaPulse

🚨 PULSE ACTIVATION #001 IS ACTIVE 🚨

A registry question came up that made me stop and think:
What are other trauma programs doing with this?

👀 In this fictional case, imaging identifies an injury described as subacute — but there is no clearly documented injury date or recalled traumatic event.

🔎 NTDS inclusion criteria require a traumatic injury sustained within 14 days of the initial hospital encounter.

So here's the question:
Does “subacute” give you enough information to establish that 14-day window? Or, without a known injury date or recent traumatic event, would your program exclude the patient?

🚨 YOUR TURN:
INCLUDE or EXCLUDE?

Tell me in the comments — but don't stop there. Tell me WHY. ⏬️

What is your program basing that decision on? NTDS/ACS guidance? State criteria? Facility policy? Radiology guidance? Something else?

📢 Pulse Activation is about bringing real registry questions to the trauma community so we can learn from different perspectives and find the resources behind our decisions.

Once we've gathered feedback and resources, we'll come back and close the activation with what we learned.

Real Questions. Real Perspectives. Stronger Registries.

❤️Consistency Creates Confidence❤️

⚠️ Cases presented through Pulse Activation are fictionalized for educational discussion and are not intended to represent an identifiable patient.

#TheTraumaPulse #PulseActivation #TraumaRegistry #TraumaRegistrar #NTDS #TraumaEducation #TraumaData

Welcome to the first-ever PULSE CHECK on The Trauma Pulse!

Instead of just talking trauma registry, we’re going to do registry together.

Using the 2026 NTDS Data Dictionary and 2026 NTDS FAQs from the American College of Surgeons, I’ll walk you through fictional patient scenarios and documentation, give you the choices, and then ask:

Can you make the call?

The PowerPoint on screen is designed so you can follow along, pause when you need to, choose your answer, and then work through the reasoning with me.

Whether you’re a brand-new trauma registrar, an experienced registrar looking for a quick knowledge check, or part of a trauma program looking for another way to incorporate education — come play along.

No pressure. No judgment. Just registry.

In this episode:

Fictional trauma registry scenarios

2026 NTDS questions and definitions

Documentation challenges

Common abstraction traps

The reasoning behind each answer

And, of course, a Pulse Pearl to take with you

How did you do?

Drop your score in the comments — and if you disagreed with one of my calls, tell me why! Registry conversations are how we all learn.

The Trauma Pulse — A Podcast With a Purpose

Consistency Creates Confidence.

Educational content only. Always reference the applicable NTDS Data Dictionary, FAQs, state requirements, and your facility-specific definitions/policies when abstracting.

#TheTraumaPulse #TraumaRegistry #TraumaRegistrar #NTDS #TraumaEducation #TraumaData #TQIP #HealthcareEducation #TraumaProgram