News5 Minute ReadDec | 7 | 2021
The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) has recognized Massachusetts General Hospital as one of 90 ACS NSQIP participating hospitals across the country that have achieved meritorious outcomes for surgical patient care in 2020. As a participant in ACS NSQIP, Mass General is required to track the outcomes of inpatient and outpatient surgical procedures and collect data that assesses patient safety and can be used to direct improvement in the quality of surgical care.
The ACS NSQIP has recognized Mass General as a national leader for surgical outcomes for five consecutive years since 2016.
The ACS NSQIP recognition program commends a select group of hospitals for achieving a meritorious composite score in either an “All Cases” category or a category which includes only “High Risk” cases. Risk-adjusted data from the July 2021 ACS NSQIP Semiannual Report, which presents data from the 2020 calendar year, were used to determine which hospitals demonstrated meritorious outcomes.
Mass General has been recognized on both the “All Cases” and “High Risk” Meritorious lists.
Each composite score was determined through a different weighted formula combining eight outcomes. The outcome performances related to patient management were in the following eight clinical areas:
The 90 commended hospitals achieved the distinction based on their outstanding composite quality score across the eight areas listed above.
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 postoperatively 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 nearly 850 adult and pediatric 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 82,000 members and it is the largest organization of surgeons in the world.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital continues to provide safe and high quality care for our patients. We recommend that patients keep scheduled clinic appointments, unless ill, or if their doctor advises otherwise.
45 doctors from Massachusetts General Hospital's Department of Surgery were included in Boston magazine's 2019 Top Doctors list.
The Mass General Department of Surgery performs about 20,000 surgeries each year. The high volume of procedures allows our surgeons to continually sharpen their skills, resulting in better outcomes for patients.
