American College of Surgeons recognizes Christiana Care for meritorious surgical outcomes

Christiana Care Health System has been honored as one of only 44 institutions out of 445 by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Clinical Congress for achieving “Meritorious” outcomes in surgical patient care.

This is the second consecutive year that Christiana Care has been recognized through the ACS NSQIP, which is the only nationally validated quality improvement program that measures and enhances the care of surgical patients.

The program measures actual surgical results 30 days after the operation and makes risk adjustments to compensate for differences among patient populations and acuity levels. Participating hospitals are required to track the outcomes of inpatient and outpatient surgical procedures and then analyze their results, which direct patient safety initiatives within the hospital and impact the quality of surgical care.

Christiana Care was honored with ACS NSQIP recognition for its performance in eight clinical areas:

• Mortality.
• Cardiac arrest and heart attack.
• Pneumonia.
• Unplanned intubation.
• Ventilator use for longer than 48 hours.
• Renal failure.
• Surgical site infections.
• Urinary tract infection.

“NSQIP enables hospitals to compare themselves in ways that would not otherwise be possible,” said Gerard Fulda, M.D., chair of the Department of Surgery and director of Surgical Critical Care and Surgical Research at Christiana Care. “The program levels the playing field by ensuring that data used for such a comparison is consistent.”

For participating hospitals evaluating their own improvement initiatives, the program “answers the question ‘What good did it do?’” Fulda added. “That is a powerful motivator for all of us striving to improve the quality of patient care
we provide.”

Craig Martine, RN, MSN, CCRN, program manager for Performance Improvement at Christiana Care, said that the ACS NSQIP recognition underscores the expert care provided by Christiana Care surgeons.

“It shows that we do everything possible to protect our patients from harm during and after their surgeries,” Martine said. “It also is a testament to the commitment of Christiana Care health care employees to stay up to date on the best approaches to care and to ensure both the very best possible outcomes and improvements in patient care.”

Christiana Care manages more than 40,000 surgical procedures each year at both its hospitals — Christiana Hospital and Wilmington Hospital — and at a number of outpatient surgical centers. Since Christiana Care began its participation in NSQIP nearly eight years ago, the health system has experienced improvements in patient outcomes that include a reduction in the rates of wound infection, deep vein thrombosis and several other post-operative complications. The program also has fostered an environment where there is an increased focus among staff quality and safety.