Fort Sanders Regional Receives Recognition from American College of Surgeons

Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center has been recognized by the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP®) for meritorious outcomes in all cases of surgery performed in 2017. The program’s goal is to reduce surgery-related infection, illness and death and to provide a foundation for applying best scientific evidence to the practice of surgery.

Fort Sanders Regional is one of 83 ACS NSQIP participating hospitals to have achieved meritorious outcomes for surgical patient care and is included in the “All Cases” recognition category. The ACS NSQIP program is currently used in nearly 850 adult and pediatric hospitals.

As a program participant, Fort Sanders Regional was required to track outcomes of inpatient and outpatient surgeries and to collect data that assess patient safety and can be used by others to improve the quality of surgical care. The program measures surgical results 30 days after procedures and is risk-adjusted for differences in patient populations and acuity levels.

Data are scored using a weighted formula that examines outcomes in clinical areas such as mortality, unplanned intubation, ventilator use, cardiac incidents, renal failure, pneumonia and infections.

“Our surgical team is dedicated to providing the best outcomes to our patients. We are honored to have our efforts recognized by the American College of Surgeons and to receive this prestigious award,” said Keith Altshuler, president and chief administrative officer of Fort Sanders Regional.

From the area’s first robotically assisted surgery system to image-guided brain and spinal cord procedures, Fort Sanders Regional’s extensive capabilities provide patients with advanced surgical options in areas such as cardiovascular, colorectal, orthopedic, neurological, vascular, thoracic, oncology and general surgery.

The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons founded in 1913 to raise standards of surgical practice and improve patient care. With 80,000 members, it is the world’s largest organization of surgeons.