What’s changing? 

Instead of manually uploading files, healthcare facilities will be able to submit data directly from their trauma registry software to the TQIP Data Center. This new process is designed to: 

• Improve data quality and timeliness  
• Reduce administrative workload   
• Streamline your workflow   

ESO is ready and here to help. 

We’ve been working closely with the ACS to prepare for this transition. Our team already has the technical requirements and is actively developing the necessary updates to support the new process in 2026. 

What does this mean for you? 

Here are answers to some common questions: 

• Which ESO products will support the new submission process? 

Only ESO Patient Registry will be updated to support the new TQIP submission process in 2026. Legacy patient registry products (CDM, DI, and Lancet by ESO) will not be updated to support this new process for 2026 submissions. 

• Can I still use my legacy registry for TQIP submissions in 2026? 

Yes. You will be able to continue submitting TQIP data using your current legacy product in 2026. We have confirmed with the ACS that the existing submission portal will remain available, so your current manual process will not change. The ACS is aware that we are not updating the legacy registry products. 

The ACS recently communicated that although the current manual process will continue to be an acceptable data submission method, they cannot guarantee that the option will be available beyond 2026. Please be assured ESO will continue collaborating closely with the ACS throughout this transition to ensure our legacy patient registry customers are represented in future decisions.  

• Do I need to do anything now? 

No immediate action is required. But if you’re interested in upgrading to ESO Patient Registry to take advantage of the new streamlined process, fill out this form and a member of our team will reach out to you. 

Stay in the loop 

We’ll keep you updated throughout the year with everything you need to know. Check your inbox for more details as we move closer to launch. 

The post Coming in 2026: A New, Easier Way to Submit TQIP Data appeared first on ESO.

As trauma teams push to improve survival, one intervention is gaining renewed attention: whole blood.

The U.S. military started using whole blood in World War I, but it fell out of favor with blood component availability. Military air evacuations revived whole blood use in the early 2000s, and by 2016, most civilian air medical services carried it. Since then, whole blood use has steadily grown, especially in high-volume and Level I trauma centers.

The 2024 ESO Trauma Index offers a detailed analysis of current trends and benchmarks in trauma care, setting a new standard for improvement and allowing healthcare professionals to get a closer look at the data, understand its impact, and explore best practices for enhancing patient outcomes. Pulling data from the world’s largest de-identified trauma registry data program, the Index’s insights reflect over 975,433 trauma patient records that took place between January 1 and December 31, 2023. One of the key metrics covered in the Trauma Index is whole blood usage.

Key Findings

The 2024 ESO Trauma Index, for the first time, looked at all patients who received blood/blood products. Some of the key findings include:

• Among the almost 70,000 trauma patients who received a blood transfusion, 5% received whole blood only, 87% received packed red blood cells (PRBCs), and 8% received both whole blood and PRBCs. 
  
• The median time to whole blood delivery among all patients who received whole blood was 13 minutes. That’s good news.  
• For patients who met the Early Blood Transfusion Needs Score (EBTNS), a score of greater than five and received whole blood, 98% received whole blood within four hours, the goal. 
• The median time to transfusion for trauma patients who received PRBCs was 12 hours. Considering that 87% of transfusion recipients receive PRBCs, 12 hours is concerning.
  
  

Are PRBCs Enough? 

PRBCs remain a mainstay of trauma care. They help stabilize patients and support volume replacement during hemorrhage. But PRBCs alone can lead to over-resuscitation, clotting problems, or metabolic disturbances. The 2024 ESO Trauma Index shows that more than 50% of trauma patients arrive hypocalcemic. 

The increase in EMS agencies and trauma centers administering whole blood is driven by military and civilian research showing that early whole blood transfusion can significantly improve outcomes for patients in hemorrhagic shock.

Key Recommendations from the 2024 ESO Trauma Index 

Hospital trauma centers looking to strengthen transfusion practices should consider these best practices: 

• Track and review all transfusions administered within three hours of injury. 
• Monitor calcium levels during transfusion and provide supplementation. 
• Implement or refine massive transfusion protocols.  
• Administer TXA early, ideally within three hours of injury. 
• Use point-of-care coagulation testing (e.g., TEG, ROTEM) to guide treatment. 
• Develop rapid-access systems for blood products, even in non-critical scenarios. 

Yet, for all its good, whole blood remains expensive and challenging to manage. For trauma centers committed to incorporating whole blood, hospitals and EMS partners should: 

• Set clear protocols for blood handling, transfusion, and storage. 
• Coordinate closely with trauma centers and blood banks to manage supply. 
• Support community blood drives to maintain availability. 
• Provide ongoing training to EMS professionals administering blood products. 
  
  

Whole blood isn’t new, but its return is evidence-backed and outcome-driven. For trauma centers committed to faster intervention and better survival, it may be one of the most powerful tools available.

Want more whole blood benchmarks and guidance? Download the full 2024 ESO Trauma Index for the complete picture. 

The post Why Whole Blood Is Gaining Ground in Trauma Care  appeared first on ESO.

1. Good data is the foundation 

Providing consistent, high-quality care isn’t a one-person job; it’s a system-wide effort. At Wave 2025, speakers emphasized the value of collecting accurate data, sharing benchmarks, building feedback loops, and supporting providers with the information and education they need to act.  

It’s been said that there are three kinds of falsehoods: a fib, a downright lie, and statistics. Dr. Remle Crowe and Ali Treichel from ESO want to ensure no one falls prey to the third one in session, Dogs and Data: A Cautionary Tail.  They shared how to gauge the quality of study results, what statistical jargon means, and the importance of staying curious about results.   

For fans of the show “Ted Lasso,”  TowerDIRECT’s Jason Drinkwater, Paramedic V – Quality Coordinator, led a familiar-sounding session: Be Curious, Not Furious: A Data-Driven Approach to Change. Before jumping to fix a perceived problem, it’s imperative to ask questions of the right people. Always include frontline workers for valuable insight and buy-in. Otherwise, you know what happens when you assume. 

2. Stay in step with change 

Trauma care is a lifelong profession for many. Presenters shared experiences, best practices, and evidence-based research to spotlight ways to stay in step with trends and technology.  

First responders – and indeed, all healthcare providers – must demonstrate their value to taxpayers, patients, employers, payers, city council, and more. In From Data to Impact: Proving the Value of the Services You Deliver, Matt Zavadsky, EMS/Mobile Healthcare Consultant at PWW Advisory Group, shared which types of data resonate with stakeholders and how to tailor information to satisfy each. The practical takeaway: “Value is based on who is writing the check.” 

Leveraging the ESO Patient Registry During an American College of Surgeons Site Survey, presented by Matthew Derkrikorian, Trauma Program Manager at Rady Children’s Hospital, offered a look at how Rady Children’s Hospital prepared for and completed the first ACS Site Survey using ESO’s updated registry.

Next, for trauma centers wondering how their performance compares nationally, ESO’s Dr. Tony Fernandez shared findings from the 2024 ESO Trauma Index in Benchmarking Care for Quality Improvement. Download the report for new insights and best practices. It’s a valuable tool to spark quality improvement conversations.  

In Sepsis Treatment: Good for the Patient and the Payor, Erik Axene, CEO and Founder of Axene Continuing Education, updated attendees on trends and evidence, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning solutions, trying to get ahead of this deadly issue.  

Building Resilience: The Power of Standardization in Navigating Change showed how CommonSpirit Mountain Region approached a trauma registry upgrade by centralizing and standardizing operations. Melissa Sorensen, RN Trauma Registry Manager, shared how the process built collaboration and positioned the team to adapt effectively.

3. Culture that supports improvement 

Many sessions acknowledged a hard truth: data alone isn’t enough. Change happens when organizations build a culture that embraces reflection, transparency, and learning. 

Brooke Burton, Quality Improvement Manager at Unified Fire Authority, led Mistake or Murder: What Can EMS and Hospitals Learn from the Vanderbilt Case? The in-depth examination showed how hospital culture contributes to patient and worker trust.  

Scott Bourn from ESO led a practical session, Strategies for Influencing Change Using Data, reminding us that how you use data and information matters. If statistics were enough, no one would smoke! Knowing how to influence without judgment is crucial for improving internal hospital culture and providing supportive patient care. 

A Call to Action: Amplifying the Roles of the Level III and Level IV Trauma Centers, led by Kelli Vaughn, Trauma Program Manager at John D. Archbold Memorial Hospital, detailed how Georgia’s smaller trauma centers, long excluded from larger system initiatives, created a standing committee to shape care across all levels of trauma care. .

Finally, Michael Kaduce, Director at The Falck Health Institute, addressed the challenge of how to start a quality improvement project. Once your hospital team has data in hand and leadership on board, pick something low-cost and high-impact. He provided ideas, examples, and tools in Bringing Research to Frontline Providers: Supporting Your Quality Management Program. 

4. EMS-hospital collaboration improves outcomes 

Multiple sessions focused on the continuum of care. Hospitals that make real-time data accessible to EMS agencies and close the loop on outcomes see stronger relationships, better documentation, and improved patient care. 

In the session From the Roadside to the Bedside to the Hospital Boardroom, Jonathan Sague, Regional Chief Operating Officer, shared how University Hospitals (UH) are redefining EMS-hospital collaboration. By treating EMS as partners and sharing timely data and feedback, UH improved care transitions, documentation quality, and frontline morale. As a bonus, stronger EMS relationships can increase patient volume, which leads to financial gains and hospital growth. 

Next, Justin Nelson, EMS Liason at VHC Health, shared their experiences with ESO Health Data Exchange (HDE) in The Bridge to Better Patient Outcomes. Instead of three separate interfaces plus encrypted email to communicate with EMS agencies, VCH only uses HDE. Stronger EMS relationships translated into a 7% increase in volume, and 91% of patient records match – up from 18%.  

In A Healthcare Shift: How Virtual Nursing and Hospital at Home Programs Are Changing The Landscape of Patient Care, Lisa Meyer from ESO examined how virtual care is reshaping patient interaction models – and what that means for EMS and hospital alignment moving forward.

5. Challenge precedent 

In a conference centered on using data, multiple sessions tackled common beliefs and techniques that no longer serve trauma care.

In the popular Hot Topics in Trauma Care, experts Dr. Glen Tinkoff, System Chief, Trauma and Acute Care Surgery at University Hospitals, Dr. Samir Fakhry, VP for Center for Trauma and Acute Care Surgery at HCA, and ESO’s Dr. Brent Myers examined evidence on trending issues in trauma care. High points included:

• Delaying surgery to ‘tune up’ patients doesn’t help, as COPD won’t be cured in three days.
• Blame pickleball for the increase in geriatric falls.
• There is enough data to support whole blood use in trauma. But haven’t solved delivery or replenishment.
• Not all traumas require a full trauma activation.
• Prepare for increased pediatric behavioral health and pediatric gun violence.

Next, in Ketamine Therapy for the Wounded Helper, Dr. Alexandra Jabr, Educator at Emergency Resilience, shared research and personal experiences with Ketamine as part of a holistic approach to PTSD. She presented evidence and distinguished medical versus recreational use, while addressing its limited FDA approval and credibility.

Taking aim at hospital-wide issues like overcrowding, burnout, and boarding in It’s Everyone’s Problem: The Ongoing Challenge of Patient Flow and Capacity Constraints, Lisa Meyer from ESO shared tactics hospitals are deploying to reduce adverse events and improve patient movement.

Configuring Your Trauma Registry for Successful Reporting and Performance Improvement featured Lee Ann Wurster, Trauma and Burn Program Manager at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, who detailed how intentional registry setup and onboarding helped maintain real-time abstraction and continuous reporting.

Stay ahead of what’s trending in the industry. 

Our data experts at ESO compiled a few resources to help you keep up with a shifting industry while using aggregated data to ensure your organization stays at the top of its game. Check out the 2024 ESO Trauma Index to see where your organization stands against national benchmarks in important metrics. 

It’s not too early to start thinking about Wave 2026! 

Mark your calendars for April 7-10, 2026, to join us in Austin, TX, for four days of thought leadership, networking, and learning. If you’re interested in being the first to get the inside scoop on what data-driven advancements and technologies are trending industry-wide, mark your calendars and stay tuned to register.  

The post Wave 2025 Recap: Top 5 Topics in Hospital and Trauma Care appeared first on ESO.

Held from April 22-25, Wave 2025 covered a variety of impressive topics throughout the week. Here are the five themes that were at the forefront of discussions in fire and EMS:

1. Artificial Intelligence   

Front and center on the world stage, AI is an incredible new technology that we’re only skimming the surface of what it can bring to the industry. Despite the fact that we need to proceed cautiously and responsibly, we’re excited to see how its role will continue to evolve in the years to come.  

At Wave, the air was abuzz with talks surrounding AI. Chief Innovation Officer of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Todd Ponsky, used his session Global Education Moonshot: Using AI and Media to Transform Medical Knowledge Access to shed light on the new technology’s role in fighting global disparities in patient care.  

Cincinnati Fire Department’s program manager, Robert Hug then shared how his department is transforming their documentation and analyses of their data through the integration of AI into Snowflake in Beyond ChatGPT: Unlocking the Power of AI in Snowflake.  

Finally, we learned how ESO will be tackling AI from ESO Senior VP of Engineering Russell Beggs, Senior VP of Product Reinhard Ekl, and Chief Innovation Officer Brandon Martinez in their session Artificial Intelligence in ESO Products: Efficiency Gains You Can Trust. They discussed the responsible approach ESO is using to harness the new technology to improve the efficiency and accuracy of documentation through our new auto-generated narrative feature. 

2. Mobile Integrated Healthcare 

EMS is on the front lines of providing medical care for their communities, treating the most vulnerable of society, oftentimes on a repeated basis. More than ever before, data and strategic partnerships are being used as tools for empowering first responders to get to the root of patients’ issues through Mobile Integrated Healthcare/Community Paramedicine programs. These programs can be incredibly impactful for both the agencies and the patients they treat.  

Kicking off the discussion, Associate Chief Medical Officer of Global Medical Response, Gerad Troutman, explored the power of these alternate care models in redirecting non-life-threatening cases away from the ER while providing proactive care for repeat callers in his talk From Sirens to Solutions: How EMS Data is Driving Smarter Healthcare, 

Then, in Unifying Community Paramedicine (CP) and Mobile Integrated Health (MIH) Data: A NEMSIS Initiative, NEMSIS Technical Assistance Center Program Director Kevin Nicholes discussed how impactful data unification can be for MIH/CP programs in improving everything from patient outcomes to billing practices.  

Continuing to drill down into the importance of partnerships to MIH/CP programs, we learned how agencies across the city of Tulsa combined forces to leverage their different strengths and skills in order to get to the root of their patients’ problems thanks to Aligning Community Data for the Common Good by Tulsa Fire Department Chief of EMS, Justin Lemery.  

Finally, even though MIH/CP is an impactful tool for providing care for your community, you need the right funding to make it happen. Asbel Montes from Solutions Group Services gave us the rundown on what not to do when seeking a bigger budget in his talk, The Top 5 Costly Mistakes to Avoid When Seeking Additional Funding for MIH/CP. Then EMS/MIH Consultant Matt Zavadsky of PWW Advisory Group dove into the importance of using data to prove the value of the services you provide in From Data to Impact: Demonstrating Your Agency’s Value to the Community.  

3. Data-driven innovations 

Every day, organizations use ESO data to do incredible things, but without the framework to define, measure, and reduce errors in data, you can’t pull quality insights from the information gleaned. This was emphasized in Reducing Errors, What Percentage of Plane Crashes Would Be Okay?, where Cox Health EMS Medical Director Matthew Brandt shared strategies for using data to improve care, foster accountability, and ensure adaptation, along with in Be Curious not Furious: A Data-Driven Approach to Change by TowerDIRECT Paramedic Jason Drinkwater, where we learned how to measure what matters.  

Then, in Conducting Qualitative Research with Your Team: A Crash Course of Meaningful Outcomes, Fire Chief Dr. Brett Ellis from the City of Webster Grove took it a step further, teaching us it’s not just data quality that needs to be considered but who’s benefiting from the data that it pays to use qualitative research that reflects the personalities and passions of your team.  

We also learned that although data and technological advancements are doing incredible things for first response, organizations need to decide what’s best for them. In Assessing Your Technology Needs: A Practical Roadmap for Smarter Solutions, a session by Principle of Acceleration Strategies, Robert Edson, gave insights into how to determine which innovative tools are necessary for your organization without overspending or underutilizing resources. 

We also drilled down into what we should be measuring as an industry. Recently, data has shown that response times aren’t a reliable indicator for measuring outcomes, as they rarely reflect the quality of care provided. Chief Medical Officer of the Forth Worth Office of the Medical Director, Jeffrey Jarvis, is well versed on the topic and used his talk, Improving Clinical Care Using National EMS Quality Alliance (NEMSQA) Benchmarks, to share what your organization should be measuring instead. 

Using EMS Data to Drive Safety: Resources, Lights, and Sirens by UNC Department of Emergency Medicine’s EMS Chief Medical Officer Joseph Grover and Beyond Response Time Standards, the Evolution of Contract Compliance by Global Medical Response Clinical Quality Managers Brad Cramer and Jake Shores, both also dove into response but focused more on best practices for minimizing lights and sirens usage without sacrificing standard of care.  

We also learned how data is helping us build a better offense in our efforts to keep our communities safe. In Why Risk Reduction Planning Zones are Essential, AP Triton Senior Associate Frank Blackley discussed how the right insights can help agencies more effectively visualize and reduce risks. In the FSRI Fire Dynamics Research Update, UL-FSRI Director of Research Craig Weinschenk gave us the latest learnings related to WUI fires, electrical fires, and search and rescue. 

Cary Fire Department’s Fire and Emergency Services Analyst Blake Boyd raised another good point regarding measuring outcomes in Outliers: An Inclusive Conversation. He led a discussion on how traditional data analysis methods hinder fire departments’ ability to identify and manage outliers and what best practices could be taken instead.  

There are many uses for data. It doesn’t just push us towards better patient outcomes or help us get paid, as discussed by Systems Design West Education Direction Alissa Christenbury in Data-driven insights: improving ambulance billing through documentation analysis, but it is also a tool for keeping our teams safe. In The Power of Reporting: Using Data to Foster Trust and Prevent Violence, Commander Mandy Johnston of Peel Regional Paramedic Services spoke to the violence paramedics face on the job, along with the role data reporting can play in supporting prevention efforts. Then, in PPE Exposure to Energy Storage Fires, Texas A&M Division Director Chris Angerer discussed the data-driven best practices for protecting your department from the devastating impacts of exposure.  

SCEMSA Executive Director Henry Lewis really hit home the importance of data and how, when we work together in a unified front to utilize our collective insights and talents, we can do incredible things. His talk Leveraging Data for EMS Funding: the SCEMSA Story shared how the South Carolina EMS Association has overcome both a hiring and funding deficit by doing just that. 

This leads us to create the right culture around your data – from using insights to transform your leadership, as discussed by Dare County EMS Deputy Chief Terence Sheehy in Transformative Leadership: Don’t Give Up the Ships, to the importance of promoting the creation and use of data at your own organization as touted by the President/CEO of International Public Safety Data Institute, John Oates, in his talk What is Your Data Culture?, we were taught a lot about making your agency a hub for fostering excellence and growth.  

4. Prehospital and hospital interoperability  

Day in and day out, EMS providers make critical decisions with lives weighing in the balance. Today, data and technology are instrumental in closing the feedback loop and ensuring they have the necessary information to make the right call the moment they need it.  

In ESO Health Data Exchange (HDE): The Bridge to Better Patient Outcomes, VHC Health EMS Liaison Justin Nelson discussed how his team used ESO HDE to better facilitate communication with their partners, increasing feedback loop closures from 11% to 94% and increasing overall EMS transports by 7%, which ultimately transformed both the quality and quantity of the care they were able to provide.  

In Precision Under Pressure: How Technology Is Transforming Prehospital Dosing and Clinical Support, Hinkley Medical CEO Tristen Hazlett and Physician Abraham Campos gave us a run down on how powerful data-driven decision-making can be in shaping the future of prehospital care while Gaining “Insight” into Patient Acuity: Enhancing Response Plans by Linking Emergency Medical Dispatch (EMD) Codes to Patient Care Interventions by Wake County EMS Deputy Medical Director Jefferson Williams explained how insights can improve patient-based response planning and prioritization today. 

As the role of fire and EMS continues to rapidly change beyond first response, data is helping them to become a bigger part of the patient care continuum than ever before. In The Evolving Role of Fire and EMS in Healthcare, Axene Continuing Education CEO & Founder Eric Axene, MD, FACEP, discussed how data-driven partnerships are transforming the relationship between prehospital and hospital care.  

The more we understand the entire continuum of care, the clearer we can see EMS’s full range of capabilities for treating patients and the impact they make. In To Transfuse or Not to Transfuse: Using ESO Data to Evaluate the Utility of Implementing a Prehospital Blood Product Program, Medical Director of Cincinnati Fire Department, Dustin Calhoun, dove into the current state of prehospital 911 blood product administration and our learnings thus far.  

5. NERIS 

The nervous excitement around NERIS was palpable at Wave, and crowds were out the door for sessions surrounding the new system. UL-FSRI Director of Research Craig Weinschenk led a session called National Emergency Response Information System (NERIS): Changing the Future of Fire Departments, where he gave a highly anticipated update on what’s currently happening with the project and how NERIS is set to transform the industry.  

In NERIS is Near Us, ESO product experts Jennifer Billingsley and Katie Heins gave a demo on the brand new NERIS-compliant Fire Incidents and answered a wide range of questions regarding the new response system. If you missed it, have no fear. You can check out our NERIS FAQs here, and if you don’t find an answer to your questions, submit them here, and we’ll be happy to assist you.  

Stay ahead of what’s trending in the industry. 

Our data experts at ESO compiled a few resources to help you keep up with a shifting industry while using aggregated data to ensure your organization stays at the top of its game. Check out the 2025 ESO EMS and Fire Services Indices to see where your organization stands against national benchmarks in important metrics. Pulling from the ESO Data Collective, the Indices help your team see where you’re on top of your game and areas that are ripe for improvement, along with sharing best practices that promote growth. 

Read the 2025 ESO Fire Service Index

Read the 2025 ESO EMS Index

It’s not too early to start thinking about Wave 2026! 

Mark your calendars for April 7-10, 2026, to join us in Austin, TX, for four days of thought leadership, networking, and learning. If you’re interested in being the first to get the inside scoop on what data-driven advancements and technologies are trending industry-wide, mark your calendars and stay tuned to register.  

The post Wave 2025 Recap: Top 5 Topics in EMS and Fire   appeared first on ESO.

Critical connections during emergencies 

ESO Health Data Exchange (HDE) is the critical connection between the field and the hospital, giving emergency department (ED) clinicians near real-time access to prehospital care information during time-sensitive emergencies.  

Just as your hospital evaluates and improves over time, ESO evolves its solutions to meet your changing needs. Read on to find the latest ESO HDE enhancements that provide hospitals with actionable insights into EMS activity and collaboration.  

What’s new: Enterprise Master Patient Index (EMPI)

Benefit: Automated patient match rates of over 90% in under two minutes 

Accurately matching patients with their prearrival care information is critical to patient safety, community health, and hospital business success. Poor patient-matching capabilities are both inefficient and costly. Repeated medical care because of duplicate records costs over $1,700 per ED visit, while denied claims from patient misidentification cost the average hospital $2.5 million.  

ESO HDE now includes automated matching of hospital records to EMS encounters, thanks to Enterprise Master Patient Index (EMPI). This technology: 

• Eliminates the need for paper runsheets 

• Eliminates the need for wristband scans 

• Greatly reduces time spent on manual searches 

• Reduces care wait times while reconciling missing EMS records  

Hundreds of hospitals now enjoy match rates of over 90%, which automatically occur in less than 120 seconds. 

What’s new: EMPI matching for all responding units

Benefit: Shared patient outcomes and improved billing 

In addition to patient identification, ESO HDE EMPI matching allows all units and agencies responding to an incident to qualify for an EMPI match.  Without this enhancement, only the transporting EMS unit links to the patient, risking the loss of other agencies’ critical contributions because of unmatched records.  

With the ESO HDE EMPI match: 

• All responding agencies receive patient outcome information.  

• All responding units can learn, update training if needed, and ultimately improve patient care.  

• All services provided can be documented and billed, reducing missed revenue. 

• All responding units automatically process through the ESO EMPI system, which is particularly crucial for high-utilization regions. 

• Hospitals save time by no longer having to manually share outcomes with multiple responding agencies.
   

EMPI matching for responding agencies closes a critical gap in EMS data systems – ensuring every touchpoint during a response is captured, linked, and actionable.    

What’s new: Integrated with ESO Insights  

Benefit: Operational and clinical information in easy-to-understand reports 

ESO HDE now includes ESO Insights, an integrated reporting platform that offers clear, easy-to-understand reports and visuals. Hospital leaders can embrace their data while using it to identify areas for performance improvement. ESO Insights is built with users in mind, offering point-and-click functions.  

With all the data integrated into a single data platform, pre-built dashboards for both operational and clinical views are available. For example, operational dashboards include: 

• EMS transport summary – View EMS transport data in different ways – including the top transporting agencies, reason for transport, and why patients are choosing your facility, etc. 

• Ambulance Patient Offload Time (APOT) by facility and EMS agency – Previously accessible only through research, this data is now available at your fingertips. 

Existing clinical dashboards include specific measures for stroke and STEMI. This offers a deep dive into understanding progress toward meeting standards

What’s new: ESO Suite enhancements 

Benefit: Improved experience
 

You asked, and we answered! Three fresh enhancements to the ESO Suite include

1. A federated single sign-on (SSO) – Enjoy a single password for all ESO applications. Plus, your designated IT administrators can create and disable users centrally and easily. 

1. Submit direct product feedback – When you share feedback in the suite, the product team triages it and keeps you informed about progress.    

1. Data Exporter tool – The ESO Data Exporter tool allows users to manage and export large amounts of data, simplifying data management. You can build, schedule, download, and email data exports directly.  

Request a demo to see how ESO HDE can help your hospital enhance patient outcomes, streamline operations, and support performance initiatives throughout the emergency services journey.
 

The post Close the Gaps: Smarter EMS Information for Hospitals appeared first on ESO.

The post 2025 ESO EMS Index appeared first on ESO.

For example, the bakery needs food safety permits. The research lab needs special ventilation for hazardous materials. The kickboxing studio needs extra soundproofing to avoid disturbing the yoga studio below. And the doctor’s office on the ground floor must follow strict medical facility guidelines. 

This building can be completed only by knowing the requirements and following a specific order during construction. It starts with a strong foundation, then gradually adds each floor; the top floor can’t open before the first floor is built. Success depends on the architect’s master knowledge, collaboration from outside agencies, and a healthy dose of patience. 

This metaphor perfectly explains how patient registry compliance works and why it’s worth waiting to get the details just right.

“At ESO, we are partnering with our hospitals and regulatory organizations to ensure that we are improving community health and safety through the power of data. As your vendor, we are working diligently with regulatory organizations to which you must submit your data. These organizations can update their data annually. We are collectively working together to ensure that hospitals can accurately collect data on time to allow for successful submissions of trauma records. Compliance is a team effort internally and externally to ensure the data to be collected is the correct data being sent. We are all essential key players in data quality and integrity.”

– Julie Hollan, MSN, RN, Product Manager – Registry Compliance, ESO  

Laying the foundation: National standards first 

Annual compliance includes coding updates from national, state, regional, and other entities that together, create the annual compliance customization updates. 

Before your trauma registry software can be updated with the annual trauma standards, ESO must receive the foundational data standards from the American College of Surgeons (ACS) first. This toolkit includes:  

• Technical Specifications – A document that outlines the requirements for your software to work as expected. As your vendor, ESO is responsible for ensuring your software can to accurately, efficiently, and seamlessly collect and submit trauma records. 

• The Software Development Kit (SDK) – The technical toolkit for software developers to begin coding updates. 

• The Data Dictionary – This is the guiding documentation hospitals use to abstract trauma records. It details every data point your registry must collect, the values each field can hold, and how data must be formatted. The ACS provides the National Trauma Data Standard 2025 Data Dictionary. 

The ACS typically releases these essential components mid-year, setting off the national compliance update process. Without these files, the process cannot begin, delaying foundation construction.

Creating the structure: State and regional steps 

Once the ACS national requirements are in place, state and regional trauma systems release their own data dictionaries with specific requirements. These vary widely and can include new data elements, menu values, validation rules, and additional information for data abstraction. Most notably, data dictionaries detail the formats in which the data must be reported to your state or regional regulatory organizations.

ESO partners with each state and region to identify their changes and conduct a compliance review. Importantly, ESO cannot proceed with registry updates until each state, regional trauma system, or state trauma vendor formally approves their annual compliance update requirements. 

Finishing each floor: Customization 

With national, state, and regional compliance updates available, ESO develops specific updates based on compliance needs. Whether your trauma center is accredited, designated, and/or verified, your data submission must meet the requirements of the entities your facility is accountable to, like the ACS, American Burn Association, the state, region, and/or other regulatory organizations. 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) is also involved in registry compliance software updates. CMS releases new ICD-10 coding sets (PCS & CM) twice a year. ESO ensures that these coding updates are added to your registry product.  

Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) is connected with registry compliance software updates too. AIS2015 was released on January 1, 2025, as the coding standard starting with 2025 admissions for the National Trauma Data Standard (NTDS) and Trauma Quality Improvement Program (TQIP). 

Grand opening: Deployment

Once these updates are reviewed, revised, and ready, ESO deploys updates to each product with the capability for data collection and submissions. ESO Patient Registry is deployed into production, and hospital administrator users can configure their system accordingly. The ability to self-serve with a few clicks reduces downtime. Facilities may still need to handle some installation steps for legacy products such as ESO-DI, ESO-Lancet, and ESO-CDM. If you need assistance with these installs, reserve a time with ESO Support using the support scheduling link provided in your deployment email.

A key takeaway for those on the registry compliance journey is that each step depends on the one before it. Each building phase requires attention to detail, analysis, and collective approval of changes. If updates are delayed in one area, all areas risk delay. As your vendor, we partner with regulatory organizations to ensure data quality and integrity. Collectively, we can improve community health and safety through the power of data.

Why compliance matters

The annual compliance update process is critical to ensuring your facility’s data submissions meet standards established by national, state, and regional regulatory organizations. While the process includes many dependencies, every step is essential to ensuring your facility can submit the highest quality trauma data possible.

Trauma program leaders can focus on benchmarking and quality improvement initiatives with confidence while hospitals address accreditation and verification initiatives, all while collectively improving trauma care. 

Visualize the compliance process

Here’s a simplified look at the full compliance lifecycle for facilities in states where ESO is the state vendor.

The following table outlines each step in more detail: 

*Estimated timelines are subject to change. ESO commits to providing transparent and timely updates to our state, regional, and facility partners as timelines evolve.  

Less hassle for you

Keeping your trauma registry compliant means keeping up with changes across national, state, and regional standards — a process ESO manages with you. Whether you use a legacy registry product or already upgraded to ESO Patient Registry, ESO collaborates with partners to offer technical assistance and resources to ensure your registry stays in lockstep with evolving standards.  

Every trauma registry vendor shares this responsibility, but ESO reduces the burden with ESO Patient Registry by applying updates automatically and keeping your registry up to date with minimal effort.  

That means your hospital only has one requirement: Activate your compliance updates with the click of a button once your national, state, and regional updates are available. 

Ready to upgrade?

Are ready to move away from manual updates? Visit the ESO Patient Registry page and fill out the Start My Upgrade form today.
 

The post Understanding Trauma Registry Annual Compliance Updates appeared first on ESO.

“A culture of excellence for us is ensuring that our data is as high-quality as it can be and using it in our reporting metrics.” 

– Matt Jacoby, Assistant Fire Chief at Cary Fire Department, North Carolina

Cary Fire Department in Cary, North Carolina, knows that good data can mean the difference between guessing and making informed decisions that keep firefighters safe. Over the years, the department has built a culture focused on collecting high-quality, consistent data and turning it into action.

In this video, Matt Jacoby, Assistant Fire Chief at Cary Fire Department, shares how data has become part of their daily operations and how that mindset helps drive continuous improvement across the department. Between setting higher benchmarks to pioneering new processes, Cary Fire is using data to protect firefighters, improve patient care, and shape the future of fire service operations.

Video Transcript

How Cary Fire Department Uses Quality Data

to Make Informed Decisions 

Matt Jacoby

Assistant Fire Chief at Town of Cary Fire Department

Cary, North Carolina

We collect an awful lot of data through reports and other metrics that we all are required to complete, and there’s a real opportunity to use that data in a way that drives our profession forward.

The culture of excellence for us is really ensuring that our data is as high-quality as it can be and then using that in our reporting metrics. This culture has been ingrained in us for much of my career, and year by year, we incrementally try to raise the bar, set that standard, and continue that journey of continuous improvement.

Now, the fire service is traditionally resistant to change, so it does impede progress sometimes. I just want to challenge folks, the fire service leaders who are there, to rethink what they do and think outside of where they currently are in different ways [and how] they can use that data to stretch.

If you can’t compare your data to itself with a benchmark, then it becomes useless. So you have to have that established standard and then continue to raise that bar so you can challenge yourself.

That’s what it’s all about for us. That’s the culture of continuous improvement and excellence.

We’ve been tracking fire decontamination, products of combustion, and exposures for about a year. I think we’ve just implemented that as a mandatory field now. So that’s going live just this week. Very excited to see the outcome of that and the impact on our folks because that’s a huge focus, as you know, making sure our people stay safe and get them into retirement for a long life.

Becoming the first fire department in our county to implement the HDE and electronic patient transfer is groundbreaking for us.

We embarked on a long journey, really working with our county partners to get to a point where everybody was comfortable turning this function on. Since that time, we’ve been live with that for about two years or so. We really paved the way for other departments to come on board and simplify their process.

We like things very simple, and with the iOS app coming online, that simplifies and streamlines things even more. The ability to dictate what a medication that you’re administering is, automatically ingesting that, and putting it in the proper spot – that is remarkable.

The advice I would give anyone who’s looking to start this would be to embrace it fully – but don’t force it upon anyone. When we build our teams, many of them are voluntary. We solicit input, and whoever wants to contribute can contribute.

That’s the heart of a successful team. They want to be there. They want to be a part of that change.

We like to lead the way. Cary Fire Department enjoys being first in anything that we can.

I get to be a small part of that, and that’s the true joy for me.

To learn more about the incredible work Cary Fire Department is doing, visit carync.gov/services-publications/fire. 

Interested in more stories like this?

Join us at Wave 2025  featuring ESO Training Academy from April 22–25, 2025 in Austin, Texas, to hear from leaders like Matt. 

The post Using Data to Protect Firefighters and Drive Improvement appeared first on ESO.

If you missed it, don’t worry – we’ve got you covered. Here’s a recap of the major updates and what they mean for your department. 

NFIRS Retirement and the Hybrid Reporting  

Any new skill requires practice, whether it’s figuring out a new rescue tool, gaining confidence in ladder operations, or entering data in a new system. With NFIRS officially retiring on January 1, 2026, fire departments are preparing for onboarding and learning what NERIS will bring to their daily operations.  

The webinar mentioned that fire departments will be able to transition to NERIS in 2025 based on their local needs and readiness. It’s important that you work with ESO, or your RMS vendor, to establish timelines. The goal of this reporting year is to ensure that departments can onboard in a way that minimizes disruption.  

What does this mean for ESO customers?  

For ESO customers, as your RMS vendor, we can work with you to access the NFIRS system for historical data once you complete the update. 

What’s New? NERIS Features and System Improvements 

The webinar highlighted several key changes in NERIS, designed to provide more accurate data, better risk analysis, and improved operational insights. 

NERIS ID 

Say goodbye to your old FDID. A major change is the transition from FDID to a unique, alphanumeric NERIS ID. Unlike FDIDs, which were only unique within a state, NERIS IDs are geospatially based and unique across the country. It is composed of your NERIS entity type, state and county FIPS codes, and random trailing characters.  Each fire department will require their own NERIS ID to report for that agency.    

This new identifier helps standardize reporting and ensures that data can be analyzed consistently across local, regional, and national levels. However, departments can still use their FDID locally while transitioning to the new system. 

Multiple Incident Types 

NERIS introduces multi-incident type reporting, allowing departments to log up to three incident types per call instead of being limited to just one. 

For example, a single response might include: 

• A vehicle fire 

• A hazardous materials spill 

• An entrapment requiring technical rescue 

Being able to report multiple incident types gives a clearer picture of what firefighters encounter on scene and provides more detailed data for leadership and policymakers.  Departments will need to work on policies to help drive their department to how they want to list incident types.  

Improved Mutual Aid Tracking 

Mutual aid data will be more precise, capturing not only whether aid was given or received but also the specific role that outside units played. The system distinguishes between: 

• Aid given in support of another department 

• Aid given in lieu of the primary department responding 

• Aid provided under contract or acting as another agency 

This structured approach helps departments track true call volume in their jurisdictions and better understand their mutual aid relationships. 

Expanded Tactical Reporting 

From suppression techniques to ventilation efforts, the new system captures detailed tactical data for smarter decision-making. 

Fire departments can now document: 

• Ventilation tactics (e.g., vertical, horizontal, hydraulic) 

• Water application times 

• Primary search status and completion times 

• Rescues and victim outcomes 

This level of detail wasn’t possible in NFIRS and will give departments better insight into the effectiveness of their actions on scene. 

Geospatial Incident Mapping 

NERIS integrates GIS data to provide real-time incident mapping and a clearer view of response patterns. 

Departments will be able to analyze: 

• Designated response areas 

• Call density and geographic trends 

• Mutual aid coverage and gaps 

This data can support station placement decisions, resource allocation, and community risk reduction efforts. 

Real-Time Data Quality Checks 

To improve reporting accuracy, NERIS includes near real-time data validation at the point of entry for minimal rules. This helps reduce errors, missing data, and inconsistent reporting by flagging issues before a report is submitted.   

Fire departments will no longer need to rely on manual reviews or wait weeks to identify reporting errors – the system provides immediate feedback to ensure high-quality data from the start. 

The system will not capture responders and other related information. For these items, refer to your RMS vendor. 

A Phased Approach to Rollout 

Onboarding is happening in phases to ensure departments have the support they need. The transition plan includes: 

• State Fire Marshal coordination to assist with training and outreach 

• Early onboarding for small and large metro departments 

• Regional onboarding based on FEMA regions, allowing departments within the same area to transition together 

Collaboration with RMS vendors to ensure smooth data exchange for departments using third-party reporting systems.                                                                             

Next Steps for Fire Departments 

Here’s how your fire department can start preparing: 

1. Confirm Your Onboarding Timeline: Reach out to your state fire marshal or RMS vendor for your schedule. 
2. Initiate Training: Beginning in May 2025, FEMA regions will begin formally leading the onboarding process. Work with your vendor to understand the training process and when it will be available. 
3. Review Workflows: Analyze your current reporting processes and adjust them to align with NERIS standards. 
4. Stay Informed: Keep an eye on upcoming training resources, webinars, and updates to ensure you’re fully prepared. For more information on how to prepare, visit the official NERIS website. 
    

How ESO is Supporting Your Transition 

For more than a year, ESO has worked closely with FSRI to ensure we’re prepared to help you migrate to NERIS. From onboarding to data collection for reporting, our team is ready to support your transition. We’re ensuring that:   

• Your NERIS account is set up with minimal disruption 

• You receive hands-on, practical training  

• Your transition to NERIS reporting is smooth and timely 

Do you have questions about NERIS or do you need guidance on how ESO can help with your transition to the new system?  

Visit our NERIS FAQs to learn more

The post Get Ready: NERIS National Rollout and Onboarding appeared first on ESO.