TBI Data Collection and Legislation

Florida Profile
PDF Version (Requires Acrobat Reader)  

Data Collection Information

State Injury Indicators Data
Florida is one of 26 states participating in the Injury Indicators program coordinated by CDC, with input from CSTE and STIPDA. Participating states voluntarily analyze hospitalization and death data to track, monitor, and report on various injuries and risk factors, including traumatic brain injury (TBI). Note that this program uses a restricted definition of TBI. 

Lead agency: Florida Department of Health
Phone: 850-245-4045
Website: www.doh.state.fl.us 

Report: State Injury Indicators Report  

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Registry
Florida has a central nervous system registry that captures both TBI and spinal cord injury. 

Lead agency: Florida Department of Health
Phone: 850-245-4045
Website: www.doh.state.fl.us 


Program Spotlight

Florida Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Program: A service linkage model
Florida’s traumatic brain injury (TBI) registry program was added to the state’s spinal cord injury program in 1985. It was established with the dual purposes of data collection/surveillance and linkage to services. In 1988, the state legislature created what is now known as The Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Trust Fund, which provides a funding stream for providing services to people included in the registry. The trust fund itself is funded through auto license tag fees and fines for driving under the influence (DUI). With the establishment of the trust fund, the Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Program’s (BSCIP) mission became “To provide all eligible residents who sustain a traumatic brain or spinal cord injury the opportunity to obtain the necessary services enabling them to return to the community.”

In Florida, contact information for people with TBI is provided to the registry within five days after identification or diagnosis. They are registered into the BSCIP, located in the Department of Health. The program links patients with moderate to severe brain injury with case managers who help them access services and coordinate the services they receive. The program also refers people with mild TBI to available services in the community. Through BSCIP, TBI patients get help with— 

• Acute care 
• In- and outpatient rehabilitation
• Transitional living
• Adaptive equipment
• Home and vehicle modification
• Long-term care, including personal assistant services through the Medicaid Home and Community-based Waiver programs

The BSCIP also supports TBI prevention, education, and research activities within Florida.