Key result
Quality programs like NSQIP may inaccurately flag high-volume colorectal surgery hospitals as high outliers.
Why the study?
Quality improvement programs like NSQIP may not accurately measure quality in colon and rectal surgery due to higher morbidity rates despite good care.
Broad quality measurement programs like NSQIP may unfairly penalize hospitals performing high volumes of colon and rectal surgeries due to the inherently higher risk of complications in these procedures.
Risks mislabeling high-volume colorectal centers; leaves open whether procedure-specific risk adjustment refines quality metrics.
Quality improvement in health care has become a major topic of discussion among health care providers, patients, insurance companies, and the government. National Surgical Quality Improvement Project (NSQIP), along with a multitude of other programs, exists in an attempt to create objective data that can be used to compare hospitals and providers against a national average. Studies have shown that despite good patient care and proper surgical technique, patients who undergo procedures such as colectomy have a higher incidence of surgical site infection (SSI) and other morbidities. Therefore, hospitals with a large volume of colon and rectal surgery cases are routinely identified as "high outliers" in these quality improvement programs. Programs, such as NSQIP, may not be the best way to measure quality in specific subspecialties such as colon and rectal surgery.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
McNally et al. (2014) conducted an editorial in Colon and rectal surgery. National Surgical Quality Improvement Project (NSQIP) was evaluated. Quality measurement programs like NSQIP may inaccurately identify hospitals with high volumes of colon and rectal surgery as high outliers due to the inherently higher incidence of morbidities.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: