February 11 marked the second anniversary of the Society for Vascular Surgery® Patient Safety Organization (SVS PSO), a milestone of which we should all be exceedingly proud. The Vascular Quality Initiative®(VQI), which includes the SVS PSO, the regional quality groups and the M2S cloud-based registry, is truly coming into its own.
Dr. Richard Cambria
As you will read in this annual report, we have a lot of good news:
1. Participation continues to grow, with more than 200 sites now enrolled.
2. Quality improvement projects have been initiated in 15 regional quality groups.
3. The PATHWAYS cloud-based registry has expanded the real-time data entry and benchmarked reporting functions.
4. The first national research studies using VQI data have been approved.
We are especially proud of this year’s expansion to include procedure modules for venous interventions. The American Venous Forum (AVF) is playing a key role in developing the procedure forms and benchmarked outcomes reports. AVF also has representation on the SVS PSO Governing Council and a newly created Venous Quality Committee.
The VQI has now matured to the point that a dedicated VQI session will be included in the Vascular Annual Meeting to present both quality-related reports and scientific papers based on regional and national VQI data. We hope to see you there Saturday morning, June 1.
A number of other vascular societies have endorsed the VQI and are working with us toward our goal of universal participation: Canadian Society for Vascular Surgery, Eastern Vascular Society, Florida Vascular Society, Michigan Vascular Society, Midwestern Vascular Surgical Society, New England Society for Vascular Surgery, New York Society for Vascular Surgery, Peripheral Vascular Surgery Society, Rocky Mountain Vascular Society, Society for Clinical Vascular Surgery, Southern Association for Vascular Surgery, Southern California Vascular Society, and Western Vascular Society. We appreciate their support and enthusiasm.
While the pursuit of high quality patient care has always been central to our specialty, tools like the VQI could not be more necessary or more timely. In a recent survey, SVS members ranked the “need to document quality and outcomes” as the most important issue facing vascular surgery, along with the need for “tools to measure and document the quality of vascular care.” These high rankings were consistent across all age groups and for all practice types—signaling broad recognition that our practice environment requires more from us than ever. The VQI is an essential tool for contemporary practice.
Richard P. Cambria, MD
Chair, SVS PSO Governing Council
