Promoting patient safety is a national priority. To evaluate interventions for reducing medical
errors and adverse event, effective methods for detecting such events are required. This …

Objective: Postoperative pulmonary complications are a major contributor to the overall risk
of surgery. We convened a patient safety summit to discuss ways to enhance physician …

Context In recent decades, the fastest growth in lumbar surgery occurred in older patients
with spinal stenosis. Trials indicate that for selected patients, decompressive surgery offers …

Objective To evaluate the effects of intraoperative protective ventilation on major
postoperative respiratory complications and to define safe intraoperative mechanical …

Purpose: More than 1 million prostate biopsies are performed annually among Medicare
beneficiaries. We determined the risk of serious complications requiring hospitalization. We …

Background: Because pulmonary nodules are found in up to 25% of patients undergoing
computed tomography of the chest, the question of whether to perform biopsy is becoming …

Importance The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement
Program (ACS NSQIP) provides feedback to hospitals on risk-adjusted outcomes. It is not …

Context Minimally invasive radical prostatectomy (MIRP) has diffused rapidly despite limited
data on outcomes and greater costs compared with open retropubic radical prostatectomy …

ContextAlthough medical injuries are recognized as a major hazard in the health care
system, little is known about their impact. ObjectiveTo assess excess length of stay, charges …

Context The Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) aims to reduce surgical infectious
complication rates through measurement and reporting of 6 infection-prevention process-of …