Ambulatory groups may fill benchmarking gap
Ambulatory groups may fill benchmarking gap
You may have difficulty finding ambulatory data right now, but wait a little longer and you'll be able to get it from two new projects sponsored by national ambulatory associations.
The American Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers in Chicago has started a Surgical Outcomes Project in collaboration with the Williamson Institute for Health Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University/Medical College of Virginia in Richmond. The project, which encompasses nine common same-day surgery procedures, will yield the most comprehensive, patient-focused database yet developed for the field, says Stephen E. Zimberg, MD, MSHA. An OB/GYN, Zimberg is secretary of the AAASC and vice president of the Lakeview Medical Center in Suffolk, VA.
Centers may send data on procedures - breast biopsy, bronchoscopy, carpal tunnel, cataract removal, cystoscopy, GI endoscopy, hernia repair, laparoscopy, knee arthroscopy - or they may submit data on all procedures at their facility and receive reports that are not procedure-specific. Ten quality indicators for monitoring patient outcomes are being tracked, including: patients experiencing complications of surgery during the perioperative period, patients retained beyond the expected recovery time for the surgical procedure, patients admitted to the hospital following surgery, and patients adequately prepared for self-care at home after discharge. The data are uploaded on the Internet and participating centers can access their outcomes reports over the network.
Also, the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) in Skokie, IL, will launch the Institute for Quality Improvement later this year to maintain a national data clearinghouse for ambulatory care, offer consulting services, and provide education and research. The institute will develop benchmarks and, eventually, protocols or guidelines related to ambulatory care. Centers will be allowed to choose indicators and measurement systems that suit their needs, says Sam Romeo, MD, chairman of the AAAHC's Performance Measurement Task Force and president and CEO of University Affiliates IPA in Alhambra, CA.
The institute will address the gap in physician-level data. "We all went into medicine to take care of patients first, but we learn it by virtue of experience. The ability to share a common base of what we do on a daily basis - where 90% of health care is - has never been aggregated," Romeo says. "The data are available in some places, but it's never been appropriately used. We want to develop a database where people can benchmark the appropriateness of care."
[For more information on the Surgical Outcomes Project, contact the AAASC at 401 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611-4267. Telephone: (800) 237-3768. Web site: www.come.to/outcomes/.
For information on the AAAHC Institute for Quality Improvement, contact Sam Romeo, president and CEO, University Affiliates IPA, 1000 S. Fremont Ave., A-11, Alhambra, CA 91803. Telephone: (626) 943-1040.]
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