Fifteen years of the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program in review

Abstract 

Since 1994, the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) has become a tool for the study of outcomes in surgery. Through carefully designed studies, patient risk factors, structures, and processes of care and their impact on various outcomes were carefully described within many specialties and subspecialties of surgery. “Fifteen years of NSQIP” is a celebration of the work of Shukri Khuri and his colleagues during this time frame. By summarizing their extensive contributions, a perspective is given as to the impact and breadth of their observations and recommendations on quality improvement for specific operations in various specialties under various conditions. A total of 128 articles published in the peer-reviewed literature dealing mostly with findings from the Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital system are summarized.

Keywords: Quality improvement, Surgery, Structure, System, Process, Outcomes, Mortality, Morbidity, Safety