SAN FRANCISCO - The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program today recognized Sutter Alta Bates Summit Medical Center and Sutter Mills-Peninsula Medical Center as two of 77 ACS NSQIP participating hospitals that have achieved meritorious outcomes for surgical patient care in 2023. As participants in ACS NSQIP, Alta Bates Summit and Mills-Peninsula are required to track the outcomes of inpatient and outpatient surgical procedures and collect data that assesses patient safety and can be used to direct improvement in the quality of surgical care.

"We commend all ACS NSQIP-participating hospitals because they have committed to using high-quality data to improve the surgical care of their patients. Sutter Alta Bates Summit Medical Center and Sutter Mills-Peninsula Medical Center have gone a step further - not only do they use the data effectively, they also have the results to prove they are achieving optimal patient outcomes," said Clifford Y. Ko, MD, MS, MSHS, FACS, FASCRS, Director of the ACS Division of Research and Optimal Patient Care.

The ACS NSQIP recognition program commends a select group of hospitals for achieving a meritorious composite score in either an "All Cases" category or a category which includes higher risk cases ("High Risk"). Risk-adjusted data from the July 2024 ACS NSQIP Semiannual Report, which presents data from the 2023 calendar year, were used to determine which hospitals demonstrated meritorious outcomes. Alta Bates Summit and Mills-Peninsula have been recognized on both the "All Cases" and "High Risk" Meritorious lists.

Each composite score was determined through a different weighted formula combining eight outcomes. The outcome performances related to patient management were in the following 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 77 hospitals achieved the distinction based on an outstanding composite quality score. Risk-adjusted data from the July 2024 ACS NSQIP Semiannual Report, which presents data from the 2023 calendar year, were used to determine which hospitals demonstrated meritorious outcomes. 60 hospitals were recognized on the "All Cases" list and 60 hospitals were recognized on the "High Risk" list; the 60 hospitals represent approximately ten percent of the 609 ACS NSQIP eligible hospitals. 43 hospitals are recognized on both the "All Cases" and "High Risk" lists, 17 other hospitals are on just the "All Cases" list, and 17 other hospitals are on the "High Risk" list only, totaling 77 hospitals being recognized as Meritorious.

ACS NSQIP is the preeminent nationally validated quality improvement program that measures and enhances the care of surgical patients. This program measures the actual surgical results 30 days postoperatively as well as risk adjusts patient characteristics to compensate for differences among patient populations and acuity levels. The goal of ACS NSQIP is to reduce surgical morbidity (infection or illness related to a surgical procedure) and surgical mortality (death related to a surgical procedure) and to provide a firm foundation for surgeons to apply what is known as the "best scientific evidence" to the practice of surgery. Furthermore, when adverse effects from surgical procedures are reduced and/or eliminated, a reduction in healthcare costs follows. ACS NSQIP is a major program of the ACS and is currently used in over 850 adult or pediatric hospitals. Hospitals participating in ACS NSQIP are designated as ACS Surgical Quality Partners.