The Crash Outcome Data Evaluation System (CODES)is a program facilitated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis (NCSA)

• State CODES programs use probabilistic linkage methodology to link State person-level crash data to medical outcome datasets such as inpatient, ED and EMS.
• The purpose is to expand crash data so that components of highway safety can be evaluated in terms of outcomes such as death, injury, injury severity, inpatient charges, MAIS, payer, and costs.
• Other ancillary data sets such as trauma registry, death certificate, driver records, etc are sometimes also incorporated
  Dual aims of CODES:
  • Foster and cultivate crash outcome data linkage for highway safety applications at the State level
    • Better problem id
    • Better highway safety planning/decision making
    • More highway safety funding
    • More lives saved
  • Enable State CODES programs to participate in NHTSA-coordinated multi-State studies.

Assisting NHTSA with the CODES Program are two Resource Centers:

CODES Program Resource Center

The CODES Project at the University of Maryland, Baltimore has expertise in the development of the CODES infrastructure and integration of a multi-stakeholder system within a State, and has served as CODES Program Resource Center (PRC) since mid-2008. The PRC exemplifies the processes needed to be in place in order to incorporate other data systems into CODES and to integrate other funding streams to complement data warehousing and integration activities. Under its cooperative agreement, the PRC is funded to provide programmatic and administrative support to NHTSA and CODES sites.

http://medschool.umaryland.edu/NSCforTrauma

CODES Technical Resource Center

The Utah CODES project at the University of Utah has been a part of the CODES program since its inception and since mid-2008 has served as the CODES Technical Resource Center (TRC), providing leadership for the CODES initiative on technical issues and expertise in data linkage, analysis and imputation techniques. Under its cooperative agreement, the TRC is funded to act as point of contact to the software developer, lead software training, develop and train in analysis methods, and coordinate and conduct NHTSA special studies. The TRC also maintains the CODES eRoom as a means of data sharing and collaboration amongst members of the CODES network.

http://www.utcodes.org/

The Centers are partners in developing and implementing training, networking, technical assistance, and evaluation to put into action the next phase of the CODES initiative. The roles of the PRC and TRC continue to evolve. Under this plan the Centers will provide expertise and assistance in not only technical matters but also marketing the CODES program public policy capabilities and products among State shareholders and integrating CODES grantees in TRCC and other data-related activities.

For More information on how CODES works Click Here

NHTSA CODES FAQ’s Click Here

For the NHTSA CODES Strategic Plan Click Here (Coming Soon)