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Quality Improvement

Ontario Surgical Quality Improvement Network

Ontario Surgical Quality Improvement Network logo

WHAT'S NEW?

Committing to better: New campaign to reduce infections improves care for surgical patients

The Ontario Surgical Quality Improvement Network’s (ON-SQIN) Committed to Better: Reducing Infections after Surgery campaign is a new campaign jointly developed by ON-SQIN members, with support from Health Quality Ontario.

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The Ontario Surgical Quality Improvement Network (ON-SQIN) is a Community of Practice that brings together surgical teams from all hospitals and specialties from across the province.

ON-SQIN, a community dedicated to better surgical care for patients, was created by surgical leaders and continues to be driven by its members.

Using high-quality clinical data collected through the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP), members identify opportunities to improve the quality of surgical care.

Connecting via educational webinars, meetings and the annual Ontario Surgical Quality Conference, ON-SQIN members share ideas and practices, and work together to use their ACS NSQIP data to improve care.


Interest in ON-SQIN is growing

As of June 1, 2018, nearly 77% of Ontario’s adult surgeries took place in an ON-SQIN member hospital.

For information on joining the Community of Practice, please email NSQIP@hqontario.ca.

Dr. Timothy Jackson is Health Quality Ontario’s Provincial Surgical Lead.


Tools and Resources


Participating Hospitals (as of June 1, 2018)

Location

LHIN

Cambridge Memorial Hospital

Cambridge

Waterloo Wellington

Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario

Ottawa

Champlain

Collingwood General and Marine Hospital

Collingwood

North Simcoe Muskoka

Grand River Hospital, Kitchener Waterloo Campus

Kitchener

Waterloo Wellington

Grey Bruce Health Services

Owen Sound

South West

Guelph General Hospital

Guelph

Waterloo Wellington

Halton Healthcare, Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital

Oakville

Mississauga Halton

Hamilton Health Sciences, Hamilton General Hospital

Hamilton

Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant

Hamilton Health Sciences, Juravinski Hospital

Hamilton

Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant

Health Sciences North, Ramsey Lake Health Centre

Sudbury

North East

L’Hôpital Montfort

Ottawa

Champlain

Humber River Hospital

Toronto

Central

Kingston Health Sciences Centre, Kingston General Hospital

Kingston

South East

Lakeridge Health, Oshawa Hospital

Oshawa

Central East

London Health Sciences Centre, Children’s Hospital

London

South West

London Health Sciences Centre, University Hospital

London

South West

London Health Sciences Centre, Victoria Hospital

London

South West

Mackenzie Health

Richmond Hill

Central

Markham Stouffville Hospital Corporation, Markham Stouffville Hospital

Markham

Central

McMaster Children’s Hospital (Hamilton Health Sciences)

Hamilton

Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant

Michael Garron Hospital

East York

Toronto Central

Niagara Health System, St. Catharine’s Site

St. Catharine’s

Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant

North Bay Regional Health Centre

North Bay

North East

North York General Hospital

North York

Central

Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital

Orillia

North Simcoe Muskoka

Pembroke Regional Hospital

Pembroke

Champlain

Peterborough Regional Health Centre

Peterborough

Central East

Queensway Carleton Hospital

Ottawa

Champlain

Quinte Health Care

Belleville

South East

Renfrew Victoria Hospital

Renfrew

Champlain

Sinai Health System, Mount Sinai Hospital

Toronto

Toronto Central

Sioux Lookout Meno Ya Win Health Care

Sioux Lookout

North West

Southlake Regional Health Centre

Newmarket

Central

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

Toronto

Toronto Central

St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton

Hamilton

Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant

St. Joseph’s Health Centre Toronto

Toronto

Toronto Central

St. Michael’s Hospital

Toronto

Toronto Central

The Hospital for Sick Children (Sick Kids)

Toronto

Toronto Central

The Ottawa Hospital

Ottawa

Champlain

The Scarborough Hospital

Scarborough

Central East

Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre

Thunder Bay

North West

University Health Network, Princess Margaret Hospital

Toronto

Toronto Central

University Health Network, Toronto General Hospital

Toronto

Toronto Central

University Health Network, Toronto Western Hospital

Toronto

Toronto Central

William Osler Health Centre, Brampton Civic Hospital

Brampton

Central West

William Osler Health Centre, Etobicoke General Hospital

Etobicoke

Central West

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:

  • prevent 250–500 complications
  • save 12–36 lives
  • reduce health care costs by millions of dollars

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:

  • Not administrative: data are taken from the patient’s medical chart, with identifying factors removed
  • 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
  • Case mix–adjusted: ACS NSQIP accounts for the complexity of operations performed, allowing for more accurate benchmarking
  • 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:

  • Patients, who experience fewer complications and better outcomes, shorter hospital stays and improved satisfaction
  • Surgeons and surgical teams, who receive robust reports that provide performance information to guide surgical care and identify areas for improvement
  • 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 NSQIP@hqontario.ca.

As one of the first steps in their quality improvement journeys, Ontario Surgical Quality Improvement Network members review their ACS NSQIP data to identify areas for improvement and strategize a plan to address those issues. Surgical Quality Improvement Plans (SQIPs) are a tool used to help teams leverage their data to create actionable ideas and goals.

Surgical Quality Improvement Plans were adapted from the provincially mandated Quality Improvement Plans (QIPs), and serve as blueprints for how a surgical team will strive to improve quality at their hospital. A SQIP is a programmatic QIP designed to help Ontario Surgical Quality Improvement Network members:

  • identify areas for improvement (using their ACS NSQIP data)
  • implement evidence-based quality improvement initiatives and change ideas
  • track data, process measures and outcomes to determine the effects of their quality improvement activities and change ideas

Submit your SQIP using the SQIP Navigator online tool.

Ontario Surgical Quality Improvement Network logo

SUBMIT HERE

Find out more about best practices in surgical care and resources available to inform your work in surgical quality improvement.

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Community of Practice

Access the Ontario Surgical Quality Improvement Network community. Learn, share and innovate with others committed to improving the quality of surgical care in Ontario.

If you have questions, please contact NSQIP@hqontario.ca.

Members of NSQIP-ON can login here.


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IMPROVING SURGICAL CARE IN ONTARIO

This report captures highlights from Health Quality Ontario’s evaluation of the first 18 months of the program and the work accomplished by members of the Ontario Surgical Network during this time.

Read the Report
Clinician administers anesthesia to surgical patient

Report on Surgical Quality in Ontario

Quality Surgery: How an international quality improvement program is helping various hospitals in Ontario make surgeries safer.

Click here to read our blog.

Read the report
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Ontario Surgical Quality Conference

An annual professional forum providing the opportunity to connect and learn with colleagues who share a commitment to surgical quality. Discover how collaborative teamwork, data and quality improvement can drive change.

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