(Greenwood, S.C., May 5, 2020) The Society for Vascular Surgery’s Vascular Quality Initiative (SVS VQI) has awarded Self Regional three stars, the highest number of stars awarded, for its active participation in the Registry Participation Program.
The mission of the SVS VQI is to improve patient safety and the quality of vascular care delivery by providing web-based collection, aggregation and analysis of clinical data submitted in registry format for all patients undergoing specific vascular treatments. The VQI operates 14 vascular registries.
The participation awards program began in 2016 to encourage active participation in the registries program and recognize the importance of that participation.
Jim Pfeiffer, President and CEO of Self Regional Healthcare added, “The community could not ask for a more caring and devoted cardiovascular team like we have at Self Regional. Their commitment to high standards of care and quality improvements certainly earn them this honor. We are very proud.”
Participating centers can earn up to three stars based on actions that lead to better patient care, including:
• The completeness of long-term, follow-up reporting, based on the percentage of patients for whom they have at least nine months of follow-up data
• Physician attendance at semi-annual meetings of a regional quality group
• Initiation of quality improvement activities based on VQI data
• The number of vascular registries in which the center participates
VQI’s registries contain demographic, clinical, procedural and outcomes data from more than 670,000 vascular procedures performed in the U.S. and in Canada. Each record includes information from the patient’s initial hospitalization and at one-year follow-up.
The wealth of data allows centers and providers to compare their performance to regional and national benchmarks. All centers and providers receive biannual dashboards and regular performance reports, so they can use their data to support quality improvement initiatives.
Cathy Sperry, Manager of Cardiovascular Services at Self Regional said, “The vascular team at Self Regional uses VQI data to measure not only the effectiveness of our programs but to also ensure the quality of our long-term patient care. We are so honored to have received this high recognition for following these guidelines and measures, and look forward to always providing the highest quality of vascular care to the lakelands.”
Biannual regional meetings allow physicians of different specialties, nurses, data managers, quality officers and others to meet, share information and ideas, and learn from each other in a positive and supportive environment.
Members have used VQI data to significantly improve the delivery of vascular care at local, regional, and national levels, reducing complications and expenses.
“Hard-working, dedicated organizations such as Self Regional Healthcare are key to the success of the vascular registries,” said VQI Medical Director Dr. Jens Eldrup-Jorgensen. “The work we do to build and maintain the registries for researcher use is crucial to health and outcomes for vascular patients. Like the old saying says, ‘if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.’”
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About Self Regional Healthcare
Self Regional Healthcare is a not-for-profit, regional referral hospital that provides care to residents of Greenwood, Abbeville, Laurens, Saluda, McCormick, Edgefield and Newberry counties. Services include prevention and wellness, acute care and tertiary care services including cancer care, neurosurgery, heart and vascular surgery, NICU, orthopedics and genetics. Self Medical Group is its employed physician affiliate network.
