Christiana Care Health System Receives National Recognition from American College of Surgeons for Exemplary Outcomes

NEWARK, Del., Oct. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) has recognized Christiana Care Health System as one of 26 ACS NSQIP participating hospitals in the United States that have achieved exemplary outcomes for surgical patient care.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090407/DC95299LOGO)

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090407/DC95299LOGO)

As a participant in ACS NSQIP, Christiana Care 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.

Christiana Care is the only hospital in the Delaware Valley to receive this recognition.

"This study suggests that Christiana Care is one of the national leaders in high quality surgical outcomes," says Michael Rhodes, M.D., chair of the Department of Surgery at Christiana Care.

According to the American Hospital Association, Christiana Care ranks among the top 20 hospitals in the nation in the number of surgical procedures, performing more than 40,000 surgeries each year. These range from common to highly complex, minimally invasive and robotic procedures.

The ACS NSQIP recognition program commends a select group of hospitals for achieving exemplary outcome performances related to patient management in five clinical areas: DVT (deep vein thrombosis, thrombophlebitis and pulmonary embolism); cardiac incidents (cardiac arrest and myocardial infarction); Pneumonia; SSI (surgical site infections-superficial and deep incisional and organ-space SSIs); or urinary tract infection. The 26 hospitals commended achieved the distinction of attaining exemplary results in two or more of the five areas listed above. Risk-adjusted data in the June 2010 ACS NSQIP Semiannual Report determines which hospitals demonstrated exemplary outcomes.

ACS NSQIP is the only 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 the "best scientific evidence" to the practice of surgery. Furthermore, reducing or eliminating adverse effects from surgical procedures reduces health care costs. ACS NSQIP is a major program of the American College of Surgeons in use in more than 300 hospitals nationwide.

The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons, founded in 1913, to raise the standards of surgical practice and improve the care of the surgical patient. The College is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. The College has more than 74,000 members and it is the largest organization of surgeons in the world.

SOURCE Christiana Care Health System