Hospital recognized for surgical patient care

JAMAICA HILLS—The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) recently recognized Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital as one of 37 ACS NSQIP-participating hospitals nationwide that have achieved meritorious outcomes for surgical patient care. Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, located at 1153 Centre St. in Jamaica Plain, is the only hospital in Massachusetts to receive this distinction.

As a participant in ACS NSQIP, Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital is required to track the outcomes of inpatient and outpatient surgical procedures and collect data that directs patient safety and the quality of surgical care improvements.

The ACS NSQIP recognition program commends a select group of hospitals for achieving meritorious outcome performances related to patient management in nine clinical areas:

•              Mortality

•              unplanned intubation

•              ventilator for more than 48 hours

•              renal failure

•              DVT (deep vein thrombosis, thrombophlebitis and pulmonary embolism)

•              cardiac incidents (cardiac arrest and myocardial infarction)

•              respiratory (pneumonia)

•              SSI (surgical site infections-superficial and deep incisional and organ-space SSIs)

•              urinary tract infection

The 37 hospitals commended achieved the distinction based on their outstanding composite quality score in the nine areas listed above. Risk-adjusted data from the July 2013ACS NSQIP Semiannual Report, which presents data from the 2012 calendar year, were used to determine which hospitals demonstrated meritorious outcomes.

“This recognition is a true testament to our physicians, nurses, technicians and support staff who work together to achieve the best outcomes for our patients,” said Dr. Michael Gustafson, chief operating officer at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital. “We’re committed to the high quality standards of this program and are proud of this recognition.”

ACS NSQIP is the only nationally validated quality improvement program that measures and enhances the care of surgical patients. This program measures the actual surgical results 30 days post-operatively, as well as risk-adjusts patient characteristics to compensate for differences among patient populations and acuity levels.

The goal of ACS NSQIP is to reduce surgical morbidity (infection or illness related to a surgical procedure) and surgical mortality (death related to a surgical procedure) and to provide a firm foundation for surgeons to apply what is known as the “best scientific evidence” to the practice of surgery. Furthermore, when adverse effects from surgical procedures are reduced and/or eliminated, a reduction in health care costs follows. ACS NSQIP is a major program of the American College of Surgeons and is currently used in over 500 hospitals.

The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and to improve the care of the surgical patient. The college is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. The college has more than 74,000 members, and it is the largest organization of surgeons in the world.

Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital is a 150-bed, nonprofit, community teaching hospital. Founded in 1900, it offers comprehensive medical, surgical and psychiatric care as well as complete emergency, ambulatory and diagnostic services. For more information, visit brighamandwomensfaulkner.org.

From press materials

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *