Hospital Receives Meritorious Recognition for Surgical Care
By Kerri Leedy, PR and Media Relations Manager, Kaiser Permanente Northern California
Kaiser Permanente Richmond has been recognized with the highest rankings possible by the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP®). The organization awards the rankings based on the outcomes of inpatient and outpatient surgical procedures.
“We appreciate the support and recognition of the ACS NSQIP as we continuously strive for higher levels of quality excellence,” said Judith Park, MD, physician-in-chief, Kaiser Permanente East Bay. “These stellar outcomes speak to not only to the outstanding leadership and commitment of so many dedicated physicians, nurses and staff, but to the systems we can put in place through the power of our partnership and integrated healthcare model.”
The ACS NSQIP recognition program recognizes a select group of hospitals each year. Scores are awarded in both the “All Cases” category and the “High Risk” category, which includes only high-risk cases. For each category, eight clinical factors are considered and scored. They are:
- Mortality
- Cardiac: cardiac arrest and myocardial infarction
- Pneumonia
- Unplanned Intubation
- Ventilator > 48 hours
- Renal Failure
- SSI: superficial incisional SSI, deep incisional SSI, and organ/space SSI
- UTI: urinary tract infection
Kaiser Permanente Richmond received Meritorious scores in the “All Cases” categories.
“I’m so proud of our surgical teams here in the East Bay. This is the collective effort of many to achieve these results,” said Ed Chan, senior vice-president and area manager for the Kaiser Permanente East Bay Service Area, which includes the Richmond Medical Center. “Being recognized by the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program is a testament to the high-quality care we provide our members and patients.”
Kaiser Permanente Richmond Surgical services encompass procedures that are urgent, elective, routine, and specialized. Risk-adjusted data from the July 2020 ACS NSQIP Semiannual Report, which presents data from the 2019 calendar year, were used to determine which hospitals demonstrated meritorious outcomes.
“The deep commitment by many providers in multiple disciplines allows for this success and recognition,” said Aaron Baggs, MD, Regional Bariatric Subchief, Surgical Quality Lead for Kaiser Permanente’s Richmond Medical Center. “It takes a shared vision and a team approach to get these excellent outcomes.”
ACS NSQIP is the only nationally validated quality improvement program that measures and enhances the care of surgical patients. 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.
About the American College of Surgeons
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 improve the quality of care for surgical patients. 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 is the largest organization of surgeons in the world. For more information, visit www.facs.org.
About Kaiser Permanente
For 75 years, Kaiser Permanente has been committed to shaping the future of health and health care — and helping our members, patients, and communities experience more healthy years. We are recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Since July 21, 1945, Kaiser Permanente’s mission has been to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 12.4 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal Permanente Medical Group physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education, and the support of community health. http://about.kaiserpermanente.org
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