CHICAGO — The American College of Surgeons (ACS) has released the first reports from the ACS National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) Emergency General Surgery (EGS) Module, the first and only national clinical data registry for EGS.
This launch addresses a critical gap in data collection and quality improvement for EGS, which accounts for more than 3 million admissions annually and contributes to over 50% of operative mortality in the United States. The new EGS Module offers hospitals essential insights to enhance outcomes and efficiency in one of the most time-sensitive and complex areas of hospital care.
“The NSQIP EGS Module represents a milestone in quality improvement for emergency general surgery, providing the first comprehensive, data-driven approach to a critical area of patient care,” said Clifford Y. Ko, MD, MS, MSHS, FACS, Director of the ACS Division of Research and Optimal Patient Care. “By capturing essential insights on both operative and non-operative cases, we are equipping hospitals with the tools to drive meaningful improvements and ultimately reduce mortality rates in EGS — a challenging area where the stakes are high.”
These initial reports include data from 33,715 cases across 87 hospitals, comprising both operative and non-operative emergency general surgery cases. Cases span from January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2023, for operative management, and from June 11, 2022, to December 31, 2023, for non-operative management. This preliminary, non-risk-adjusted report provides an essential first look at comparative performance metrics, enabling hospitals to assess care delivery and identify areas for improvement.
Improving Emergency Care with Data-Driven Insights
The EGS Module, part of NSQIP, is designed to capture comprehensive data for both surgical and non-surgical EGS cases. The reports provide valuable information, categorized by EGS primary diagnosis, and pave the way for the development of future risk-adjusted benchmarks. These insights empower hospitals to fine-tune their processes, improve patient outcomes, and address critical metrics such as timeliness of care.
“The release of these reports is a significant advancement in our ability to understand and improve emergency surgical care,” says Michael Wandling, MD, MS, FACS, a previous Clinical Scholar-in-Residence at ACS and assistant professor of surgery at McGovern Medical School at UT Health Houston. “By having access to detailed, case-specific data, hospitals can better identify gaps and implement targeted quality improvement initiatives.”
A Legacy of Quality Improvement
The EGS program traces its roots to a pilot launched in 2015 at thirteen hospitals across the United States and Canada. The program’s success in collecting high-quality data led to the development of the targeted EGS module within the NSQIP registry. This module has since evolved to support hospitals’ needs for a specialized, benchmarked data set, and it complements the ACS Emergency General Surgery Verification Program (EGS-VP), which sets rigorous standards for EGS care.
Highlights of the EGS Module
- Non-operative Cases: Captures key variables for 11 critical EGS procedural areas, encompassing both surgical and non-surgical management strategies.
- Timeliness of Care: Recently updated variables now address the urgency required in emergency surgical interventions.
- No Additional Cost: Available at no extra charge to current NSQIP participants and as a standalone registry for EGS-VP hospitals.
The EGS Module’s data collection is instrumental for hospitals participating in the EGS Verification Program, a joint initiative between the ACS and the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST). By providing clinically relevant data, the module enables hospitals to benchmark performance, optimize care pathways, and foster a multidisciplinary approach to quality improvement.
Hospitals interested in utilizing the EGS Module or joining the EGS Verification Program can visit the ACS Website for more information.
About the American College of Surgeons
The 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 all 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 approximately 90,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world. "FACS" designates that a surgeon is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
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