The American College of Surgeons (ACS), in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins Medicine Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality, Baltimore, MD, has launched the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Safety Program for Improving Surgical Care and Recovery (ISCR). This improvement program is funded and guided by AHRQ.
The AHRQ Safety Program for ISCR supports hospitals in implementing perioperative evidence-based pathways to meaningfully improve clinical outcomes, reduce hospital length-of-stay, and improve the patient experience. Hospitals within the U.S., Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia are eligible to participate across four service lines--Colorectal, Orthopedic, Gynecology, and Emergency General Surgery.
Participating hospitals have access to U.S. leaders in enhanced recovery, including representatives of surgery, anesthesiology, and nursing; prototype enhanced recovery pathways developed for five procedures based on up-to-date evidence review; literature to support pathways; tools and educational materials to facilitate implementation; quality improvement support from a nurse consultant; and coaching calls to support hospital work.
For more information, contact iscr@facs.org or Chris Clarke at cclarke@tha.com.