101 Hospitals Join Florida Surgical Care Initiative
Led by the Florida Hospital Association and the American College of Surgeons, with support from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, Program is the Largest Statewide Surgical Collaborative in the Nation
Tallahassee, FL and Chicago, IL (Sept. 20, 2010) – The Florida Surgical Care Initiative (FSCI) has surpassed its goal of recruiting 100 Florida hospitals to participate in a statewide program to prevent surgical complications, reduce costs and improve the quality of surgical care in the state. The program is the largest statewide surgical quality improvement collaborative in the nation and includes hospitals of all types and sizes and from all regions of the state. FSCI will continue to sign up additional hospitals that would like to join the program.
“Florida hospitals have enthusiastically joined this effort because they know that by working together, hospitals and surgeons can measurably improve the quality and safety of surgical care for our patients,” said Bruce Rueben, FHA president. “By successfully reducing complications arising from surgical procedures, FSCI also will help to reduce the cost of care in our state.”
FSCI, which was announced in May during the National Patient Safety Foundation’s 12th Patient Safety Congress in Orlando, focuses on reducing surgical complications and improving the quality of care in participating hospitals. It was developed by the Florida Hospital Association (FHA) and American College of Surgeons (ACS), and is supported by the Florida Chapter of the American College of Surgeons and in part by a grant from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida (BCBSF).
“BCBSF supports FSCI because of its laser-like focus on improving outcomes for our state’s surgical patients, and we are gratified to see so many of Florida’s hospitals demonstrate their commitment to quality in joining the program,” said Brian Kiss, MD, senior medical director, Healthcare Programs, BCBSF. “This initiative will help Florida’s hospitals reduce complications, save lives and return patients to health more quickly. That benefits everyone – most of all, patients.”
FSCI will focus on four high-impact areas: surgical site infections, urinary tract infections, colorectal surgery outcomes and elderly surgery outcomes. The initiative was developed based on the ACS National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP), a program that uses risk-adjusted, clinical, 30-day outcomes data to track surgical patient outcomes. ACS NSQIP has been shown to significantly reduce complications and deaths in participating hospitals. Hospitals also reduce unnecessary costs by preventing complications, which studies have shown add up to $11,000 to the average cost of care.
“Hospitals participating in ACS NSQIP appear to be preventing between 250-500 complications per hospital, per year,” said Clifford Ko, MD, FACS, director of the ACS Division of Research and Optimal Patient Care. “Based on ACS NSQIP, FSCI will provide Florida hospitals an opportunity to achieve similar reductions in surgical complications in these four important areas.”
“The majority of our state’s hospitals that perform surgery have joined this important effort. Working together will allow us to share best practices to reduce complications and save lives,” said Stephen Mason, FHA board chair and president and CEO of BayCare Health System. “Through FSCI, we have an opportunity to set an example for the nation of how to improve patient outcomes and reduce health care costs.”
Hospitals participating in FSCI include:
- Adventist Health System
- All Children’s Hospital
- Baptist Health
- Baptist Health
- Baptist Health South Florida
- Bay Medical Center
- BayCare Health System
- Bayfront Medical Center
- Broward Health
- Central Florida Health Alliance
- Flagler Hospital, Inc.
- Halifax Health Medical Center
- Health Central
- Health First, Inc.
- Indian River Medical Center
- Jackson Health System
- Jupiter Medial Center
- Lakeland Regional Medical Center
- Lee Memorial Health System
- Martin Memorial Health Systems, Inc.
- Mayo Clinic Florida
- Memorial Healthcare System
- Miami Children’s Hospital
- Mount Sinai Medical Center
- Munroe Regional Medical Center
- NCH Healthcare System
- Nemours Children’s Clinic
- Orlando Health
- Parrish Medical Center
- Sacred Heart Health System, Inc.
- Sarasota Memorial Hospital
- Shands Jacksonville
- St. Vincent’s HealthCare
- Tallahassee Memorial Hospital
- Tampa General Hospital
- University Community Health
- University of Miami Hospital Division
- Westchester General Hospital
- Winter Haven Hospital
- Wuesthoff Health System
Hospitals interested in joining the initiative can find more information at www.FloridaSurgicalCare.org.
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About the Florida Hospital Association
The Florida Hospital Association is comprised of 183 hospitals and health systems from across the state. Through representation and advocacy, education, and informational services, we support the mission of our members to provide the highest quality of care to the patients we serve. For more information, visit www.fha.org.
About the American College of Surgeons
The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and to improve the care of the surgical patient. 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 more than 77,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world. For more information, visit www.facs.org.
About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida is a leader in Florida’s health industry. Since 1944, the company has been dedicated to meeting the diverse needs of all those it serves by offering an array of choices. BCBSF is a not-for-profit, policyholder-owned, tax-paying mutual company. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., BCBSF is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies. For more information concerning BCBSF, please see its Web site at http://www.bcbsfl.com.
