The ACS, with the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS), has launched a new national quality verification program to help participating hospitals improve outcomes and deliver the best treatment for patients receiving vascular surgical and interventional care in an inpatient setting.
The Vascular Verification Program (Vascular-VP) leverages the strengths and expertise of the ACS and SVS to provide an evidence-driven, standardized pathway for instituting and growing a quality improvement and clinical care framework within a hospital’s vascular program.
“The ACS has the experience and infrastructure for developing surgical quality programs, and the SVS has the experience with and expertise on vascular surgery,” said Anton N. Sidawy, MD, MPH, FACS, DFSVS, ACS Regent, past-president of the SVS, and the Lewis B. Saltz Chair in the Department of Surgery at George Washington University in Washington, DC. “The ACS is what we call the ‘House of Surgery.’ It’s the umbrella organization for all surgical specialties, including vascular surgery. It was logical for these two outstanding organizations to collaborate and come up with this comprehensive program.”
A Vascular-Specific Program
Vascular-VP was developed by experts who recognize the depth and breadth of vascular care and treatment. Multiple levels of participation (Comprehensive and Verified) help ensure the program can be established in a variety of inpatient hospital settings and encompasses all aspects of vascular care at an institution.
The program provides hospitals with a framework for patient education and informed consent, as well as the organizing principles for developing comprehensive patient services in the hospital and beyond, including allied health and patient support services. By receiving care at hospitals specifically dedicated to providing high-quality vascular care, vascular patients will benefit from the resources and patient care experience across all phases of care at these hospitals.
“Vascular-VP builds upon the ACS’s longstanding commitment to surgical quality. By using the existing infrastructure of the College’s quality programs and working closely with the SVS to address vascular-specific provider and patient needs, we have built an important program that will help all participating hospitals improve the quality of care they provide,” said Patricia L. Turner, MD, MBA, FACS, ACS Executive Director & CEO.
Program Standards
The Vascular-VP program standards manual is the fundamental basis for the program. The manual, Optimal Resources for Vascular Surgery and Interventional Care (2023 Inpatient Standards), addresses elements of vascular surgical care and quality, including:
- Institutional commitment
- Program scope and governance
- Resources for facilities, equipment, services, and personnel
- Clinical care
- Data abstraction and analysis
- Quality improvement
- Education and research
“This program can truly be transformative throughout the entire hospital,” said Clifford Y. Ko, MD, MS, MSHS, FACS, FASCRS, Director of the ACS Division of Research and Optimal Patient Care. “Vascular-VP helps strengthen a hospital’s safety and continuous improvement culture to enhance patient outcomes with greater reliability and standardization of care.”
