Center for Medical Technology Policy Hosts Stakeholder Forum on Enhanced Recovery Protocols for Surgical Patients in the U.S.

BALTIMORE, June 17, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Center for Medical Technology Policy (CMTP) hosted a multi-stakeholder dialogue about the challenges and opportunities to accelerate adoption of enhanced recovery protocols for surgical patients in the United States.

Leaders representing surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, patients, medical products companies, health system administrators, payers, quality organizations, and researchers gathered on June 10th to discuss potential strategies and programs to significantly improve outcomes for patients undergoing major surgery. Speakers shared lessons learned from implementing enhanced recovery programs at their own institutions, while the group discussed the potential barriers to accelerating adoption of such programs in the U.S. and brainstormed potential strategies to overcome those barriers.

"Rapid progress at a national level will require ongoing collaboration and partnership across a wide range of stakeholders," says Sean Tunis, CEO, CMTP.  "Given that thousands of patients are experiencing avoidable complications after surgery, and spending unnecessary days in the hospital, we must move things forward with a sense of genuine urgency."

Professor Monty Mythen from the University College London Hospitals shared insights from the Enhanced Recovery Programme of the National Health Service (NHS) – where they made significant progress with the adoption of this approach over a three year period. Surgeons and anesthesiologists from Duke University, Johns Hopkins, and Intermountain Healthcare also shared experiences and perspectives from their institutions, as did the American College of Surgeons and Anesthesia Quality Institute.  They highlighted key differences between the UK and U.S. environments to consider while developing ideas to accelerate adoption of enhanced recovery protocols in the U.S. "I thought the meeting was a great start to getting very real nationwide impetus," said Prof Mythen.  "Further progress in the U.S. would be a great service to patients and could stimulate rapid progress in other countries as well."

The multi-stakeholder panel, including a patient advocate and individuals offering the views of private payers, the medical products industry and the professional nursing community, debated the potential value of establishing an ongoing forum to support the acceleration of the adoption of enhanced recovery protocols in the U.S. and key roles of different stakeholder groups.

The initial exploratory meeting was supported by funds from Edwards Lifesciences. Moving forward, CMTP will explore with meeting participants how best to sustain a collaborative forum with support from multiple sources.

"Edwards has embraced the unique opportunity to coalesce key players in the healthcare field to accelerate multidisciplinary efforts aimed at significantly improving post surgical patient outcomes," said Carlyn D. Solomon, Edwards Corporate Vice President, Critical Care. "Given the significant contribution of surgical procedures to healthcare costs, these solutions can become a potent tool in reducing the cost of patient care in the U.S."    

CMTP will produce a report of the meeting along with proposed next steps later this summer.

About CMTP
CMTP is an independent, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that aims to make health care more effective and affordable by improving the quality, relevance, and efficiency of health care research. We focus on the design and implementation of comparative effectiveness research to produce information that helps patients, clinicians, and payers make informed treatment and policy decisions. CMTP provides a trusted forum in which a broad range of stakeholders can collaborate to identify important research questions, design appropriate studies, and develop innovative partnerships to implement these studies.

SOURCE Center for Medical Technology Policy