A study led by Salt Lake City-based University of Utah analyzed nearly 150,000 hospitalized patients with critical injuries and found that a majority of these patients are not transferred to an appropriate site of care.  Transfers to higher-level care centers, such as level 1 or 2 trauma centers, is called secondary triage and often associated with improved patient outcomes. Secondary triage is not common, however, particularly among adults age 80 and older and patients with public health insurance coverage, the study found. 

The researchers examined 146,816 patient encounters at level 3 and non-trauma hospitals in 2019, with each patient receiving an injury severity score greater than 15, indicating a critical injury. Fifty-eight percent of those patients were not transferred to a level

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