Tennessee Chapter of American College of Surgeons
The TN Chapter of the American College of Surgeons represents approximately 1,500 surgeons who practice surgery in Tennessee. In addition to general surgeons, Chapter members include surgeons who practice in surgical specialties, such as cardiothoracic surgery, gynecologic surgery, neurosurgery, ophthalmology, oral surgery, otolaryngology, orthopedic surgery, pediatric surgery, plastic surgery, thoracic surgery, urology, and vascular surgery.
The purpose of the Chapter is to promote the improvement of care to the surgical patient. To achieve this goal, the Chapter promotes cooperation among members of the Chapter in their efforts to improve the quality of care, provides a medium through which surgical experiences may be presented and discussed, and works with other organizations concerned with providing high quality health care in the state of Tennessee.
The Chapter has encouraged adoption of the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) since its inception in 2004. NSQIP is a severity-adjusted, outcomes-based measurement tool to improve patient safety and reduce medical errors.
Tennessee Center for Patient Safety
THA established the Tennessee Center for Patient Safety in 2007 to accelerate and support hospitals’ ongoing efforts to improve quality and patient safety. The association received two three-year grants from the BlueCross BlueShield Tennessee Health Foundation to fund the center and provide education, resources, and other tools to assist hospitals in accelerating their performance on quality and patient safety initiatives. The Center has an advisory council composed of twelve partner organizations and representatives from Tennessee hospitals.
In 2008, the safety center received additional grant funds to develop the Tennessee NSQIP Surgical Collaborative (TSQC) in conjunction with the Tennessee Chapter of American College of Surgeons. The TSQC project was designed to evaluate and improve surgical care delivered by general and vascular surgeons in the state of Tennessee. The funding supported the use of the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) in hospitals in Tennessee. This collaboration between hospitals and surgeons represented an innovative partnership and significantly enhanced the patient safety center’s initiatives on surgical care and reducing infections. It involved the collection of additional quality data that has been proven to be effective in driving improvement in surgical outcomes.
For more information on the Tennessee Center for Patient Safety, please visit the website www.tnpatientsafety.com.