The American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery launched a quality improvement program called DROP aimed at reducing 30-day readmission rates following bariatric surgery by establishing best practices. The bariatric program at Stanford University saw readmission rates drop 75% and surgical site infections decline 60% after changes to patient education, discharge planning and pre-operative procedures. The society's target is to reduce readmissions by 20% in 2015 which could save $50-60 million in healthcare costs.

2. READMISSION RATES
American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery
The issue of unnecessary hospital readmissions is now
front and center in the national conversation about the
quality of healthcare. The first national quality
improvement project for the Metabolic and Bariatric
Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement
Program (MBSAQIP) is “DROP,” or Decreasing
Readmission through Opportunities Provided.
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3. The program is specifically aimed at reducing 30-day
readmission rates following bariatric surgery. The
program will establish national standards for facilities
and surgeons performing bariatric surgery based upon a
registry of more than 700 bariatric programs to
establish best practices and recommendations for
quality improvement.
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READMISSION RATES
American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery

4. The bariatric program at Stanford University saw
hospital readmission rates drop by 75% and surgical-site
infections decline by 60% after changes in patient
education, discharge planning and pre-operative
procedures.
4
READMISSION RATES
American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery

5. The society has a target of reducing 30-day readmission
rates by 20% in 2015. With an average price tag of
$30,000 per patient, if readmissions were decreased
20% nationwide, it would decrease healthcare costs by
$50-60 million.
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READMISSION RATES
American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery

6. Bile duct injury (BDI) can be a devastating complication
of cholecystectomy, one of the most commonly
performed surgical procedures in the world. It has been
reported to occur in 0.2 to 1% of laparoscopic
cholecystectomies.
6
BILE DUCT INJURIES
Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons

7. While the human costs of BDI cannot easily be
measured, the economic burden associated with BDI
has been reported to range from $613,588 to $788,586
per million population.
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BILE DUCT INJURIES
Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons

8. The SAGES Safe Cholecystectomy Program offers
strategies for minimizing bile duct injuries, while the
SAGES Task Force on Safe Cholecystectomy will look to
establish a universal culture of safety for
cholecystectomy in an effort to reduce billary injuries.
There will also be a half-day session devoted to
preventing BDI and improving safety in cholecystectomy
during the 2015 SAGES meeting.
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BILE DUCT INJURIES
Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons

9. Technology, such as power morcellation, has allowed
minimally invasive hysterectomies to be performed in
50,000 – 150,000 patients annually. Without it, most
hysterectomy cases would convert to open procedures
and robotic single site hysterectomies would be
impossible.
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POWER MOCCELLATION
American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists

10. However, this technique has come under scrutiny because of
the risk of exposing the peritoneal cavity to an undetected
uterine malignancy during morcellation.
It is the AAGL’s position that power morcellation should
improve but not be abandoned, and that power morcellation
with appropriate informed consent should remain available
to appropriately screened, low-risk women.
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POWER MOCCELLATION
American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists

11. In 2012, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF)
said prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests to screen for
prostate cancer should not be used regardless of risk and
gave PSA-based screening a grade of “D.”
The recommendation prompted the AUA to formally support
the USPSTF Transparency and Accountability Act, which
would ensure that Medicare or other payers cannot deny
payment for a preventive service solely based on the Task
Force grade.
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COVERAGE FOR PSA SCREENING
American Urology Association

12. According to the AUA, instead of instructing primary
care physicians to discourage men from having a PSA
test, the Task Force should focus on how best to
educate primary care physicians regarding targeted
screening and how to counsel patients about their
prostate cancer risk.
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COVERAGE FOR PSA SCREENING
American Urology Association

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