National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP)
About NSQIP
Many facilities within NSW lack the tools to capture the necessary data to track and analyse surgical complications. Without the ability to analyse these data, it is very difficult to fix any problem areas. The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) data enhances a hospital’s ability to zero in on preventable complications, using validated, risk-adjusted clinical and administrative data.
Capturing these data points and applying benchmarked performance results to drive quality improvement initiatives are an integral part of the ACI's strategy of embedding quality improvement practices to ensure safer patient care and achieve improved health outcomes.
NSQIP assesses a hospital’s surgical outcomes against local and international peers in one of the largest international outcome databases ever created. These results enable targeted quality improvement initiatives to be developed to enhance the quality of surgical care while reducing complications and costs.
The ACI and the NSW Ministry of Health are supporting NSW hospitals to implement and embed the program as part of broader surgical quality improvement efforts which will support the delivery of better surgical services, and improved health outcomes for patients, families and carers in NSW.
Vision
- A NSW Collaborative network working collectively towards surgical quality improvement. NSQIP was rolled out to new participating hospitals throughout NSW in 2018/19 and will continue to scale up in the coming years to capture up to 75% of surgery performed in the public sector in NSW.
- Developed capability of NSW Health workforce to continue translation of NSQIP data analysis into demonstrable quality improvement outcomes within surgery practices throughout NSW.
- Overall reduction in preventable post-operative complications, including surgical site infection and urinary tract infections, to support better and safer patient care within NSW.
Benefits
- Fewer complications
- Better outcomes
- Shorter hospital stays
- Greater satisfaction
- Risk adjusted data
- Robust reports
- Online tools
- Sustained reduction in postoperative mortality and complication rates
- Lower costs of care
- Enhanced community reputation
How can my hospital get involved?
The ACI is working with NSW hospitals to expand NSQIP throughout NSW. We are always pleased to welcome new participants to the NSW Collaborative. To join, a hospital will need to follow these steps:
- Pre-application form
- NSQIP enrolment checklist
- Step-by-step enrolment guide
- American College of Surgeons NSQIP business development partner
- NSQIP participation options
How can I get involved?
NSQIP participants come from a wide range of subject matter expertise, but are always passionate about surgical quality improvement.
There are a number of opportunities to work closely with the program in the following capacities:
- Surgical Champion – provide surgical leadership of NSQIP in their hospital, and promote change initiatives
- Surgical Clinical Reviewer – actively engaged with clinicians to collect and submit reliable data to the NSQIP portal, design and implement quality improvement initiatives
- NSQIP: Role of a surgeon champion
ACI-NSW NSQIP Collaborative
A Collaborative is a group of two or more NSQIP participants working together to exchange ideas, solve problems and share knowledge.
NSW hospitals participating in NSQIP are part of the ACI-NSW Collaborative. Through this community, Surgical Champions, Surgical Clinical Reviewers, program administrators and ACI representatives meet regularly to promote knowledge sharing, collaboration, mentorship and networking. This includes:
- review of data, including results of individual and state-level surgical performance reports
- discuss surgical and perioperative best practices
- design interventions to address areas for improvement
- showcasing improvement results.
Face-to-face meetings are supplemented with the online communication platform BaseCamp, where Surgical Clinical reviewers discuss data collection and coding, and ask advice or questions of their peers. A number of capability development, change management and project management tools and resources are also made available to support the quality improvement efforts of ACI-NSW Collaborative members.
Evidence supports the implementation of NSQIP (consolidated literature review summary).
Information for consumers
See the consumer information for details about participating in NSQIP and a patient information sheet.
Resources
- NSQIP overview
- ACS NSQIP: Preventing complications, reducing costs and improving surgical care
- NSQIP phases 1-2 timeline
Contact
For more information or to discuss joining the ACI-NSW NSQIP Collaborative, please contact:
Crystal Burgess
Surgical Services Taskforce Manager
Tel. 0410 550 359
crystal.burgess@health.nsw.gov.au
Ellen Rawstron
Clinical Associate Director, Surgery, Anaesthesia and Interventional Medicine
Tel +61 2 9464 4604
ellen.rawstron@health.nsw.gov.au
Participating hospitals
A detailed list of contacts for participating hospitals will be released shortly.
| Hospital | LHD or SHN | Contacts |
|---|---|---|
Westmead | Western Sydney LHD | |
Nepean | Nepean Blue Mountains LHD | |
Port Macquarie | Mid-North Coast LHD | |
Coffs Harbour | Mid-North Coast LHD | |
Children’s Hospital at Westmead | Sydney Children’s Hospital Network | |
Sydney Children’s Hospital | Sydney Children’s Hospital Network | |
Prince of Wales | South Eastern Sydney LHD | |
Gosford | Central Coast LHD |
Governance Structure
