A statewide quality improvement collaborative significantly improves quality metric adherence and physician engagement in vascular surgery

Background: Quality improvement national registries provide structured, clinically relevant outcome and process-of-care data to practitioners-with regional meetings to disseminate best practices. However, whether a quality improvement collaborative affects processes of care is less clear. We examined the effects of a statewide hospital collaborative on the adherence rates to best practice guidelines in vascular surgery. Methods: A large statewide retrospective quality improvement database was reviewed for 2013 to 2019. Hospitals participating in the quality improvement collaborative were required to submit adherence and outcomes data and meet semiannually. They received an incentive through a pay for participation model. The aggregate adherence rates among all hospitals were calculated and compared. Results: A total of 39 hospitals participated in the collaborative, with attendance of surgeon champions at face-to-face meetings of >85%. Statewide, the hospital systems improved every year of participation in the collaborative across most best practice domains, including adherence to preoperative skin preparation recommendations (odds ratio [OR], 1.83; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.76-1.79; P <.001), intraoperative antibiotic redosing (OR, 1.09; 95% CI, 1.02-1.17; P = .018), statin use at discharge for appropriate patients (OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.16-1.2; P <.001), and reducing transfusions for asymptomatic patients with hemoglobin >8 mg/dL (OR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.66-0.66; P <.001). The use of antiplatelet therapy at discharge remained high and did not change significantly during the study period. Teaching hospital and urban or rural status did not affect adherence. The adherence rates exceeded the professional society mean rates for guideline adherence. Conclusions: The use of a statewide hospital collaborative with incentivized semiannual meetings resulted in significant improvements in adherence to best practice guidelines across a large, heterogeneous group of hospitals.

Automated summary

The study found that a statewide hospital collaborative with incentivized semiannual meetings led to significant improvements in hospital adherence to best practice guidelines, including preoperative skin preparation, intraoperative antibiotic redosing, statin use at discharge, and reducing transfusions. Teaching hospital and urban or rural status did not affect adherence rates.