Surgery News - October 2007 - (Page 17)

OCTOBER 2007 • SURGERY NEWS 17 NEWS vidence Based Reviews in Surgery has resumed publication as of early this month. The eight packages that will be offered from October to May will address the following topics: Neoadjuvant therapy plus surgery versus surgery alone for resectable gastroesophageal cancer. Recombinant factor VIIa adjunctive therapy for bleeding control in severely injured trauma patients. Watchful waiting versus inguinal hernia repair in minimally symptomatic men. Scoring system for the prediction of the prognosis of severe acute pancreatitis. Comparison of sentinel node biopsy versus standard axillary treatment in operable breast cancer. Rural versus urban inpatient casemix differences in the U.S. New this year will be a second module on colorectal surgery. This FROM THE COLLEGE Award Honors COT TRANSPORTATION EBRS Returns This Month E module will follow the same format as the EBRS module, offering a monthly clinical article, a methodological article, clinical and methodological reviews, and a listserv dis- A NEW MODULE ON COLORECTAL SURGERY WILL INCLUDE MONTHLY CLINICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL ARTICLES AND REVIEWS, AND A LISTSERV DISCUSSION. cussion. Clinical and methodological experts will be called upon to facilitate the listserv discussion. Six packages will be available in October, November, January, February, March, and April. The following topics will be addressed in EBRS-CRS: The diagnostic accuracy of MRI in predicting surgical resectability of rectal cancer with circumferential margins at least 1 mm clear of tumor invasion. Whether Nod2/CARD15 gene variants are independently predictive of need for initial and subsequent surgical intervention for Crohn’s disease. Whether a fast-track perioperative approach, compared with traditional care, decreases primary hospital stay, readmission rate, and morbidity and mortality. The most cost-effective strategy for the investigation of rectal bleeding in adults over 40. The efficacy of sacral nerve stimulation for fecal incontinence. Updated guidelines from the American Society of Clinical Oncology on colorectal cancer surveillance. If you wish to participate in EBRS or EBRS-CRS, contact Marg McKenzie at mmckenzie@mtsinai.on.ca. ■ Nicole Nason, administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, presents J. Wayne Meredith, M.D., FACS, medical director of the College’s trauma programs, with an award honoring the ACS Committee on Trauma. For more than 50 years, the COT has provided leadership supporting excellence of care provided to injured patients by promoting improved emergency medical services and trauma systems. The COT received the award at a luncheon in Chicago. Participant Use Data File Designed to Boost Quality uality improvement initiatives can be identified through the new Participant Use Data File recently released by the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program to fully participating ACS NSQIP hospitals. The PUF contains patient demographics, preoperative risk factors, intraoperative characteristics, postoperative occurrences, and 30-day outcomes on 152,490 cases collected by 121 sites in 2005 and 2006. With more than 5,000 cases documenting superficial surgical site infection, for example, the PUF also provides information on preoperative characteristics such as diabetes and intraoperative characteristics such as duration from anesthesia start time to operation start time. This type of information gives hospitals the data necessary to tackle some of the “hot topics” in surgery. 2007 Report Clarifies Role Of Physician Assistant Q The ACS sees the PUF as a complement to the other resources provided to participating ACS NSQIP hospitals that stimulate investigations into quality improvement opportunities. Real-time, unadjusted online reports for 30-day mortality and morbidity, semiannual risk-adjusted 30-day mortality and morbidity benchmarking, and an evolving best practices program are some of tools designed to enable participating ACS NSQIP hospitals to take a leadership role in improving quality of care for the surgical patient. Visit www.acsnsqip.org for more information. If you are not from an ACS NSQIP hospital but would like to learn more about program benefits and requirements, visit www. acsnsqip.org or send an e-mail to acsnsqip@facs.org. ■ I n cooperation with 22 other surgical specialty societies, the ACS has issued the fourth edition of Physicians as Assistants at Surgery. The updated report reflects the consensus opinion of the surgical specialties about whether a physician assistant is required “almost always,” “some of the time,” or “almost never” for each surgical procedure that is listed in the American Medical Association’s Current Procedural Terminology 2007. Insurance plans frequently refer to the report to inform reimbursement policies for assistants at surgery. Similarly, surgeons who are appealing claims denials for these services also rely on this resource as a guideline. As noted in the report, the College maintains that health insurers should reimburse all medically necessary services. Furthermore, an indication that a physician assistant would “almost never” be needed for some procedures does not imply that one is never needed. In addition, the report acknowledges that nonphysicians frequently may assist in operations, depending on local resources and individual patient needs. The report is available on the College’s Web site at www.facs.org/ahp/pubs/ 2007physasstsurg.pdf. ■ Stay Informed With the Surgical Index urgeons can identify and stay up-todate with the highest quality articles in the monthly journals by using The Surgical Index, a compilation of topics that allows them to choose items that are most relevant to their practices and clinical learning needs. By scanning the monthly selected titles, surgeons can identify relevant topics, review the abstracts, and decide whether to consult the full text articles for additional reading and possible application to practice. Monthly use of TSI and the associated links is a way to maintain a broad base of current knowledge in general surgery. S Surgeons who use TSI may obtain continuing medical education (CME) credit each month by reading the abstracts that are identified as carrying credit, achieving a score of 100% (with unlimited attempts) on a short posttest, completing a brief evaluation form, and submitting the results online. The ACS is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide CME for physicians and designates this educational activity for a maximum of 0.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ (per abstract). Details can be found at www.facs.org/tsi/cme.html. ■ Conjoint Scientific Congress Coming to Hong Kong he theme for the 2008 Conjoint Annual Scientific Congress is “Achievement through Collaboration.” Sponsored by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and the College of Surgeons of Hong Kong, the congress will be held May 12-16, 2008, in Hong Kong and will include the participation of the Australian and New Zealand Burn Association and the New Zealand Society of Craniomaxillofacial Surgeons. Planning for the conference has been under way for more than a year. T More than 20 scientific programs will take place during the four days of the meeting, which will also include a full social program and post-meeting tours to China. An international faculty of invited surgical leaders will present scientific sessions, master classes, workshops, and plenary sessions covering controversial surgical topics. Research papers will also be presented during the meeting. For more information, visit www.surgeons.org/casc2008. ■ ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF http://www.acsnsqip.org http://www.acsnsqip.org http://www.facs.org/ahp/pubs/2007physasstsurg.pdf http://www.facs.org/tsi/cme.html http://www.surgeons.org/casc2008

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Surgery News - October 2007

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