(Utica, NY – Oct. 3, 2013) The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) has recognized St. Elizabeth Medical Center (SEMC) for excellence in surgical patient care. Out of 374 hospitals in the United States that participate in the ACS NSQIP, St. Elizabeth is one of only 37 hospitals that have achieved meritorious outcomes for surgical patient care. As a participant in ACS NSQIP, St. Elizabeth 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 outcomes related to patient management in nine clinical areas: mortality, unplanned intubation, ventilator for more than 48 hours, renal failure, deep vein thrombosis, thrombophlebitis and pulmonary embolism (DVT); cardiac incidents (cardiac arrest and myocardial infarction); respiratory (pneumonia); surgical site infections (SSI), such as superficial and deep incisional and organ-space infections; and urinary tract infection (UTI). St. Elizabeth Medical Center was awarded this distinction based on outstanding outcomes in these areas, based on data from the July 2013 ACS NSQIP Semiannual Report, which presents data from the 2012 calendar year.
“The ACS NSQIP Program is an important part of our Surgical Quality Improvement Program. It enables us to compare our surgical outcomes with hospitals all across the country, taking into account patients’ overall health and surgical risk. We are extremely proud that the AmericanCollege of
Surgeons has found that our results for 2012 place us in the top 10 percent of the almost 400 hospitals participating in the program. This is a reflection of the outstanding physicians, nurses and technicians who work in our surgical services program,” said Dr. Albert D’Accurzio, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at St. Elizabeth.
ACS NSQIP is the only nationally validated quality improvement program that measures and enhances the care of surgical patients. The program measures surgical results 30 days after surgery and risk adjusts patient characteristics to compensate for differences among patient populations and acuity
levels. The goal of ACS NSQIP is to reduce infection or illness related to a surgical procedure (surgical morbidity) and death related to a surgical procedure (surgical mortality) and to provide a basis for surgeons and physicians to apply best scientific evidence to surgical procedures and care of patients before and after surgery. When complications and adverse effects resulting from surgery are reduced or eliminated, healthcare costs are reduced overall. ACS NSQIP is a major program of the AmericanCollege 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.
St. Elizabeth’s participation in the ACS NSQIP Program is made possible by the support provided by Excellus BlueCross BlueShield’s Hospital Performance Improvement Program. St. Elizabeth thanks and congratulates program coordinators Dr. John DeTraglia, Stacey Misiaszek, Scott Nicotera, Ann Marie Rosato and Sister Catherine Michael, as well as all of the surgeons, anesthesiologists, OR staff members and others who contribute to excellent patient care.