ACS NSQIP Surgical Risk Calculator: Pilot Analysis on Feasibility in an Academic Safety Net Hospital

Hospitals are looking for effective methods to track outcomes that are risk-adjusted for patient population characteristics. This is especially relevant for safety net hospitals (SNHs) servicing high-risk populations and in an era of quality-based reimbursement incentives. One such program with these goals is the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP). This is an institution-based quality audit whereby we determined the presence and consistency of charted data required to compute perioperative risk in the ACS NSQIP risk calculator.

A retrospective chart review of 28 elective colorectal procedures was performed at an urban, academic SNH over a 1-y period. For each case, it was determined whether the required NSQIP variables were readily presented via preoperative documentation. Univariate and bivariate statistics were employed to compare data field completion rates.

Of the 28 reviewed patient charts, none (n = 0) had all preoperative risk documentation required to complete an ACS NSQIP risk analysis. 89.3% of charts (n = 25) had ≤ 55% of required data to complete a risk assessment. However on bivariate analysis, demographic variables were more likely to have been recorded (P < 0.001) than other risk factors.

Preoperative risk assessment and corresponding charting practices at the SNH reviewed was fragmented and incomplete. There was lack of definitive documentation of risk factors and preoperative interventions used to modulate risk. Under current reimbursement models such as the MACRA Quality Payment Program, these findings are crucial for like-institutions to consider to critically evaluate their own documentation practices.