IU Health Arnett Hospital receives national recognition for meritorious outcomes from the American College of Surgeons

The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP^®) has recognized Indiana University Health Arnett Hospital, as one of 88 ACS NSQIP participating hospitals that have achieved meritorious outcomes for surgical patient care in 2018. As a participant in ACS NSQIP, IU Health Arnett is 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 are proud to achieve this prestigious recognition. Our staff has worked tirelessly to achieve this recognition and it reflects our dedication to excellent patient care and services,” said James Bien, MD, chief medical officer with IU Health Arnett Hospital. “In recognizing us, ACS NSQIP has provided us with the opportunity to celebrate the exceptional care we provide to our patients and our commitment to the well-being of our community.”

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 only “High Risk” cases. Risk-adjusted data from the July 2019 ACS NSQIP Semiannual Report, which presents data from the 2018 calendar year, were used to determine which hospitals demonstrated meritorious outcomes. IU Health Arnett has been recognized on the “All Cases” Meritorious list.

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: cardiac arrest and myocardial infarction
• Pneumonia
• SSI (surgical site infections-superficial and deep incisional and organ-space SSIs)
• Urinary tract infection.

The 88 commended hospitals achieved the distinction based on their outstanding composite quality score across the eight areas listed above. 72 hospitals were recognized on the “All Cases” list and 72 hospitals were recognized on the “High Risk” list; the 72 hospitals represent ten percent of the 722 calendar-year 2018 ACS NSQIP hospitals. 56 hospitals were recognized on both the “All Cases” and “High Risk” lists, 16 other hospitals were on just the “All Cases” list, and 16 other hospitals were on the “High Risk” list only – yielding 88 hospitals in total.

IU Health Arnett has participated in NSQIP since 2012. 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 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 health care costs follows. ACS NSQIP is a major program of the American College of Surgeons and is currently used in nearly 850 adult and pediatric hospitals.

The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and to 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 82,000 members and it is the largest organization of surgeons in the world.