A regional quality collaborative resulted in substantial improvements in surgical outcomes and reductions in healthcare costs, according to research published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.
The Tennessee Surgical Quality Collaborative collected data from 10 hospitals that participated in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program. Using this data, researchers examined and identified trends in surgical outcomes among these hospitals from 2009-2010.
Their analysis revealed improvements in procedures including acute renal failure (25.1 percent reduction), graft/prosthesis/flap failure (60.5 percent reduction), ventilator greater than 48 hours (14.7 percent reduction), superficial site infection (18.9 percent reduction) and wound disruption (34.3 percent).
According to the researchers, improvements in areas such as skin and soft tissue/wound disruption and ventilator management may have contributed to rapid change in practice based upon evidence-based medicine. In addition, improvements in renal and graft failure may be attributed to overall attention being focused on a problem that was uncovered through involvement in ACS NSQIP.
The researchers also found these improvements led to a net savings of nearly $2.2 million per 10,000 general and vascular procedures. If the ACS NSQIP methodology were applied to all cases, the total costs avoided might be more than $8 million when comparing 2010 results with 2009 results.
The Tennessee Surgical Quality Collaborative collected data from 10 hospitals that participated in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program. Using this data, researchers examined and identified trends in surgical outcomes among these hospitals from 2009-2010.
Their analysis revealed improvements in procedures including acute renal failure (25.1 percent reduction), graft/prosthesis/flap failure (60.5 percent reduction), ventilator greater than 48 hours (14.7 percent reduction), superficial site infection (18.9 percent reduction) and wound disruption (34.3 percent).
According to the researchers, improvements in areas such as skin and soft tissue/wound disruption and ventilator management may have contributed to rapid change in practice based upon evidence-based medicine. In addition, improvements in renal and graft failure may be attributed to overall attention being focused on a problem that was uncovered through involvement in ACS NSQIP.
The researchers also found these improvements led to a net savings of nearly $2.2 million per 10,000 general and vascular procedures. If the ACS NSQIP methodology were applied to all cases, the total costs avoided might be more than $8 million when comparing 2010 results with 2009 results.
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