The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP®) Surgical Risk Calculator establishes a new threshold for assessing quality care for elderly patients undergoing operations. The NSQIP Surgical Risk Calculator can now accurately predict four specific quality-of-life outcomes that transcend traditional measures of successful surgery, such as complication and mortality rates, and now reflects the expected effects of surgery on the ability of older patients to function independently.
Study results on the risk calculator’s new capabilities are published online on the Journal of the American College of Surgeons website ahead of print (January 2020). The researchers reported that the Surgical Risk Calculator’s precision and accuracy in predicting these outcomes will help surgeons counsel older adults considering surgery and their families about the likelihood of the patient developing a pressure ulcer, becoming delirious, needing a new mobility device, or experiencing functional decline.
ACS NSQIP is a nationally validated, risk-adjusted, outcomes-based program for measuring and improving the quality of surgical care. Built by surgeons for surgeons, ACS NSQIP provides participating hospitals with tools, analyses, and reports to make informed decisions about improving the quality of surgical care. The NSQIP Surgical Risk Calculator is a web-based decision aid and informed consent tool that provides customized risk estimates for patients preparing for a surgical procedure.
Read more:
- American College of Surgeons: ACS NSQIP surgical risk calculator predicts outcomes for geriatric surgical patients
- Enhancing the American College of Surgeons NSQIP Surgical Risk Calculator to Predict Geriatric Outcomes. Journal of the American College of Surgeons. September 2019