Medical and emergency medical services data can provide more information about the injuries themselves. It is difficult to design programs that will effectively prevent injuries if the causes of these injuries are unknown. These four-digit E codes provide a systematic way to classify diagnostic information that doctors, nurses, and other health care providers have entered into the medical record. If E codes are included in hospital records, the medical and financial consequences of particular types of motor vehicle injuries can be examined. E codes provide information about both the event during which the injury took place and the individuals who were injured.
E codes are mandatory on death records for all persons whose deaths are injury related.
They are less frequently included in other important injury data sources, such as hospital discharge data, emergency room records, and ambulance run reports. E codes are not used for reimbursement, so they are frequently dropped in abstracting records for computer entry. But E codes are not research trivia. They can create a picture of the specific circumstances of an injury which, in conjunction with other data, become the foundation for many injury prevention activities to make communities safe. As managed care and capitation grow, injury prevention will take on a new importance for hospitals as they realize the cost-effectiveness of prevention programs.