The success of the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) in providing hospitals with high quality surgical outcomes data and improving care has led to efforts to extend ACS NSQIP to a larger number of hospitals and surgical specialties. As such, the American College of Surgeons in collaboration with the American Pediatric Surgical Association (APSA) has developed the ACS NSQIP Pediatric (ACS NSQIP-Peds) specifically for all specialties in children’s surgery. Similar to ACS NSQIP, the Pediatric Program will enable participating hospitals to collect highly reliable clinical data and compare their surgical outcomes with the outcomes of other participants in the program.

The ACS NSQIP-Peds has been designed to collect 121 data points from most pediatric surgical specialties. These data points have been modified from the adult program to meet the needs of the pediatric population. Data was collected on patients under 18 years of age who are undergoing major surgical procedures. Additional data points have been included for neonates up to 30 days old. Patient outcomes are assessed for 30 days following the procedure.

A pilot test of the Pediatric Program, which began in September 2008, is currently underway at four children’s hospitals including Children’s Hospital Colorado, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital, and Alfred I DuPont for Children. The pilot, which will continue through the end of 2009, will assess the quality, reliability, and feasibility of the ACS NSQIP Pediatric variables and definitions. Data analysis is being conducted on a quarterly basis to inform the Program’s development committee of definition and inclusion criteria that are in need of clarification or improvement. To date more than 3,300 cases have been collected and analyzed in eight pediatric surgical specialties. In addition, the pilot provides a means to ensure that the data collection software, data elements, and data definitions function as intended and are modified as necessary.

With the success of the pilot project, the ACS NSQIP Pediatric is now recruiting more hospitals to participate in the Phase II development of the Program. Participation in the ACS NSQIP-Peds allows you and your hospital to:

• Demonstrate a commitment to quality improvement by participating in the first national database to measure 30-day surgical outcomes in all specialties of children's surgery.
• Be among the first to provide input to the ACS NSQIP-Peds planning committee by participating in the development of this important program.
• Collect actionable clinical outcomes data specific to children’s surgery.
• Act on clinical data to improve care in children’s surgery.

Participation in the ACS NSQIP-Peds is available to:

• Freestanding general acute care children’s hospitals
• Children’s hospitals within larger hospitals
• Specialty children’s hospitals
• General acute care hospitals with a pediatric wing

Hospitals interested in participating in Phase II will be required to hire a full-time surgical clinical reviewer (SCR), complete a participation agreement, and pay an annual participation fee of $17,500. Enrollment for Phase II is limited and will close on October 30th, 2009.