Media Contact:
Spencer Vibbert/Barbara Schwartz
Lake Success, New York (Oct. 25, 2006) - The Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) partnership today announced an increased emphasis on consumer engagement, in addition to its ongoing work with hospitals and other health care providers, in efforts to make surgery safer across the country. IPRO is providing key support and resources to this effort to help ensure that surgical care in New York State continues to improve.
More than 40 million operations are performed in the United States each year, with approximately 2 million operations performed in New York State. Many of these surgeries are complicated by infection, blood clots, and heart problems, among other adverse events. These complications take a toll not only on the patients but also on the overall cost of health care in New York and across the country. A significant percentage of these complications is preventable, however, and it is the goal of the SCIP initiative to use evidence-based measures to reduce preventable surgical complications nationwide by 25 percent by 2010.
"SCIP is leveraging the combined expertise of key healthcare organizations and agencies across New York State to address surgical complications and is now taking steps to include patients and other consumers in improving the care they receive," said Clare B. Bradley, M.D., M.P.H., Senior Vice President/Chief Medical Officer, IPRO. "This is a unique approach that can make a profound difference in the quality of surgery New York State patients can expect to receive."
SCIP is one of the first national quality improvement initiatives to unite hospitals; physician and nursing organizations; the federal government; the organization that accredits hospitals; private sector experts; and consumer advocacy groups in far-reaching surgical quality improvement efforts.
IPRO is working with New York State hospitals to advance the SCIP initiative with focused quality improvement interventions, regional conferences, face-to-face meetings with hospital staff, educational conference calls and sharing of best practice information.
The SCIP partnership has developed a tip sheet "Steps to Safer Surgery," that is designed to spur consumer involvement. The tip sheet provides specific questions patients can ask their physicians and nurses before surgery to ensure they are receiving care that will reduce their risk of having complications. The tip sheet can be found at http://company.ipro.org/index/scip-tipsheet along with other information about SCIP.
About the National SCIP PartnershipThe SCIP Partnership includes the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the American College of Surgeons, the American Hospital Association, the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, and the Veterans Health Administration.
About IPROIPRO is an independent not-for-profit corporation and one of the largest health care quality improvement and evaluation entities in the United States.