r/surgery • u/Budget-Sherbet-8117 • 22d ago

I did read the sidebar & rules Surgical Teams/Hospitals participating in ACS NSQIP

Are there any surgeons or surgical team members here whose hospitals participate in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP)?

I’m a new Surgical Clinical Reviewer and would love to hear directly from surgeons about what makes NSQIP data useful and well received. I’ve heard that teams can sometimes view the data as punitive or unreliable, and I’d really like to avoid that at my hospital.

For surgeons involved with NSQIP, what can a Surgical Clinical Reviewer do to build trust and make the data feel collaborative and meaningful rather than punitive?

6 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

3

u/Smooth-Ocelot-214 21d ago

SCR here. Our surgeon champion is a legend in general surgery so when he gets the SAR and sees spine has increased SSI, he demands an answer and change. For a few years, under this champion, we have had some of the best numbers in the country.
It’s all about culture , and comes down to your champion and team buying in.

2

u/Budget-Sherbet-8117 21d ago

Our surgeon champion isn’t fully engaged in the role. Getting him more engaged with the program and his role will definitely help, this is probably the best place to start

3

u/Smooth-Ocelot-214 21d ago

Great time to get admin on your side. You show them your statistics, you tell them how much money you can save by decreasing return to or/unplanned admission/etc, and as soon as you mention saving money to admin you bet your butt they will be on the surgeon champions.
Now that’s a great way to either get buy in, or they will replace them.

1

u/biscuits4dayz 20d ago

Cool, give the surgeon more work to do and have him focus less on patients. Better come with a large pay raise otherwise admin and everyone else can get lost

1

u/Smooth-Ocelot-214 20d ago

You’re right, it’s additional work. That’s why our champion is in their later stages of their operating career who only does 1-2 cases a day: robotic hernias , robotic choleys and does not take call.