TMC Embarks on a Surgical Quality Improvement Program

TMC Embarks on a Surgical Quality Improvement Program


In its constant pursuit of excellence in clinical care, The Medical City (TMC) Quality Improvement and Safety Division has embarked on a collaborative project with the American College of Surgeons (ACS) to improve the quality of care for surgical patients.

The project dubbed TMC - ACS NSQIP is the first of its kind in the ASEAN and Asia-Pacific Region. NSQIP stands for National Surgical Quality Improvement Program and is a nationally validated, risk adjusted, outcome based program to measure and improve the quality of surgical care. ACS NSQIP has the tools, training, customization options and, most importantly, data, to keep its partner hospital ahead of the curve.

Its wide-spread adoption in over 500 hospital across the United States, Europe, Australia and the Middle East have been shown to prevent complications, save lives and reduce millions of dollars in cost within member hospitals treating a variety of surgical patients. At present, the 12 highest US News & World Report-ranked hospitals in the US use NSQIP. U.S. News & World Report is an American news magazine known for its ranking system and annual reports on hospitals, colleges and graduate schools among others.

The TMC-ACS NSQIP Collaborative Project started in March 2014 and will end in March 2017. The project requires the submission of complete 30-day surgical outcomes, including morbidities and mortalities, to the central ACS NSQIP headquarters in Chicago. Once a hospital is accepted to be part of the NSQIP database, a Surgeon Champion and a Surgical Clinical Reviewer are appointed within the hospital to lead the project.

Dr. Manuel Francisco "Ramy" T. Roxas, head of TMC Colorectal Clinic, is the surgeon champion while Bill Bonifacio, is the Surgical Clinical Reviewer (SCR). As the resident ACS NSQIP expert, Dr. Roxas will act as the source of information about ACS NSQIP to hospital staff. He is also tasked to hold regular meetings with the SCR, quality staff and department heads to review ACS NSQIP reports and address any issues. He will also participate in an annual ACS NSQIP meeting and quarterly conference calls. Dr. Roxas was chosen as 2013 ACS International Scholar to NSQIP.

As SCR, Bonifacio is officially designated to carry out data collection and submission, as well as to liaise with all stakeholders.

The project involves the following clinical departments: Anesthesia, Surgery, ENT-HNS (Ear, Nose and Throat – Head and Neck Surgery), Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medicine and Orthopedics, aside from various nursing, technical and patient service units.

During the course of this project, TMC is given semiannual reports on how the health institution is performing in terms of surgical outcomes, allowing TMC to benchmark against the performance of over 600 NSQIP participating hospitals across the globe. These reports enable TMC to embark on specific quality improvement projects in areas where improvements are needed. (end)