Quality measurement and improvement in general surgery

Increasing emphasis is being placed on health care quality measurement and improvement in the US. Within general surgery, several sophisticated quality-measurement and outcomes systems have been developed. These include the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program, the use of selective referral and centers of excellence, the Surgical Care Improvement Project, and the World Health Organization Surgical Safety Checklist. This article reviews each of these quality-improvement initiatives, highlights their relative contributions, and discusses future directions of quality improvement within general surgery.