The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program® (ACS NSQIP®) is a leading validated, risk-adjusted, outcomes-based program to measure and drive improvements in surgical care. For each year of participation in ACS NSQIP, a hospital has, on average, the opportunity to:
Ontario hospitals that participate in ACS NSQIP through the Ontario Surgical Quality Improvement Network are part of the Ontario collaborative of ACS NSQIP called “NSQIP-ON.” Participating surgical teams have access to high-quality clinical data that can be accurately compared against data at the local, provincial, national and international levels. This allows providers to benchmark top performers, and can be used to identify areas for improvement and track progress.
ACS NSQIP data are:
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Not administrative: data are taken from the patient’s medical chart, with identifying factors removed
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Risk-adjusted:ACS NSQIP lets you compare apples to apples. For example, caring for a chronically ill 75-year-old is very different from treating a healthy 21-year-old, and quality measures should take these differences into account
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Case mix–adjusted: ACS NSQIP accounts for the complexity of operations performed, allowing for more accurate benchmarking
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Based on 30-day patient outcomes:Studies show half or more of all complications occur after the patient leaves the hospital, often leading to costly readmissions. ACS NSQIP tracks patients for 30 days after their operation, providing a more complete picture of their care
Improvement in surgical care has benefits for:
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Patients, who experience fewer complications and better outcomes, shorter hospital stays and improved satisfaction
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Surgeons and surgical teams, who receive robust reports that provide performance information to guide surgical care and identify areas for improvement
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Hospitals, which sustain reduced disparities of care and improved patient outcomes and realize lower costs of care, through avoidance of complications
To learn more about ACS NSQIP visit https://www.facs.org/quality-programs/acs-nsqip
To learn more about the Ontario collaborative of ACS NSQIP (NSQIP-ON), please email ONSQIN@ontariohealth.ca.