The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP®) has recognized Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, as one of 52 of the over 600 ACS NSQIP participating hospitals that have achieved meritorious outcomes for surgical patient care. As a participant in ACS NSQIP, Lutheran General Hospital 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 hospital has received recognition from ACS each year for the past six years.
“This recognition reflects not just how surgeons perform, but how our hospital as a whole performs, “says John White, MD, Chair of the Department of Surgery. “ We could not perform the complex surgical procedures we do and have excellent results without everyone from housekeeping and maintenance, to our clinical staff and administration all doing the best they can for each and every patient. Virtually every medical specialty in our institution has worked with our surgeons to achieve these outcomes”.
Dr. While adds that the goal is to provide every patient with a well-planned and performed surgical procedure and a rapid recovery, free with minimal discomfort and from complications.
The ACS NSQIP recognition program commends a select group of hospitals for achieving meritorious outcome performances related to patient management in eight clinical areas: mortality, unplanned intubation, ventilator > 48 hours, renal failure, cardiac incidents (cardiac arrest and myocardial infarction); respiratory (pneumonia); SSI (surgical site infections-superficial and deep incisional and organ-space SSIs); or urinary tract infection. The 52 hospitals commended achieved the distinction based on their outstanding composite quality score in the eight areas listed above.
ACS NSQIP is the only nationally validated quality improvement program that measures and enhances the care of surgical patients. It is a major program of the American College of Surgeons. 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.