Use of the national surgical quality improvement program to reduce surgical mortality: Implementation of intensive preoperative screening and intervention

Abstract

The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) data at our institution indicated that surgical mortality was significantly higher than expected. This study examines the effect of implementation of a strict, intensive preoperative screening and intervention process on postoperative mortality at our institution, as measured by the NSQIP. Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital (CRMH) is a 763-bed tertiary care hospital serving a population of one million people in southwest Virginia. Data were collected for NSQIP at CRMH from July 2007 to December 2012. In January 2010, a new preoperative process was implemented to include risk assessment and intervention for hypertension, cardiac disease, pulmonary disease, diabetes, renal disease, and obstructive sleep apnea. Before initiation of our preoperative program (July 2007 to January 2010), odds ratios (ORs) for 30-day mortality in general and vascular cases were significantly higher than expected (1.40, 1.43, 1.58, and 1.56 in successive reporting periods). Beginning with the first report after implementation of the preoperative screening program, CRMH showed a progressively decreasing OR for overall 30-day mortality (1.26, 1.19, 1.14, 0.86, 0.82, 0.84, 0.89) with similar reductions in both general (0.92) and vascular (0.92) surgery. The implementation of an intensive preoperative screening and intervention process in our institution was accompanied by a significant decrease in the 30-day mortality for general surgery and vascular procedures, as measured by the NSQIP.