Using NSQIP Data for Quality Improvement: The Cleveland Clinic SSI Experience

Prevention of surgical site infection (SSI) has become one of the primary objectives of national quality improvement programs in U.S. hospitals. This article would discuss the impact of participation in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) on the outcomes and our experience for SSI reduction. Since 2005, our institution has been an active participant of the ACS-NSQIP, and our SSI rates have been compared with other NSQIP centers; in 2006, we were found to be a high outlier institution for SSI. ACS-NSQIP greatly facilitated our understanding of the reasons for high SSI rates and patient profile that is associated with high risks for SSIs and how we can make improvements. Thus, our department initiated an SSI reduction strategy program called the “CORS SSI Prevention Bundle Project” in 2014. This effort was resulted in a statistically significant decrease in overall SSI rates from 11.8% to 6.5% after colorectal surgery. In conclusion, participation in the ACS-NSQIP offers the opportunity to compare institutional SSI rates with those of other and recognize the facts for improvement. By using this data, a bundled approach improved clinical outcomes in our experience and this was attributed to multifaceted initiatives stemming from multiple team members and comprehensive data utilization.