Project launched to reduce surgical complications

AORN Journal, Oct, 2005

A Partnership of public and private health care organizations has launched a project to reduce surgical complications by 25% by the year 2010 in an effort to improve surgical care in hospitals nationwide, according to a July 28, 2005, news release from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) is designed to provide hospitals, physicians, nurses, and other caregivers with effective strategies to reduce four common surgical complications (ie, surgical would infections, blood clots, perioperative heart attack, ventilator-assisted pneumonia). The project focuses on process measures, such as the appropriate use of preoperative antibiotics and the use of beta blockers to prevent cardiovascular events. The strategies are based on the best available science and will be refined and improved as new scientific information becomes available.

This project is one of the first national quality improvement initiatives to pursue far-reaching quality improvement and patient safety efforts by uniting national hospital, physician, and nursing organizations; the federal government; the organization that accredits hospitals; and private sector experts. In addition to AORN, the SUP partnership includes AHRQ, the American College of Surgeons, the American Hospital Association, the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, and the Veterans Health Administration.

National Project launched to Reduce Surgical Complications by 25 Percent (news release, Rockville, Md: Agency .for Healthcare Research and Quality, July 28, 2005) http://www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2005/scippr.htm (accessed 1 Aug 2005).