Quality and Safety

The Department of Surgery is committed to improving the quality of surgical care for all patients. Through research and continual quality improvement measures, we strive to ensure the best possible outcomes. In recognition of these efforts and longstanding achievements, the Department of Surgery was named a Surgical Quality Partner by the American College of Surgeons (ACS) in 2023 and has received the Surgical Quality Partner Diamond Plaque.

In addition, Boston Medical Center (BMC) has been recognized as an ACS NSQIP^® Meritorious hospital, one of just 78 hospitals to achieve this distinction in 2023, based on outstanding composite quality scores across eight areas. A voluntary program of the ACS, the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) is the only nationally validated quality improvement program that measures and enhances the care of surgical patients. As a participant in ACS NSQIP, BMC tracks the outcomes of inpatient and outpatient surgical procedures. A select group of hospitals are recognized each year for achieving a meritorious composite score in an “All Cases” category and/or a category that includes only “High Risk” cases. BMC has been recognized in both categories.

Other Department of Surgery quality and safety initiatives include the I COUGH program, designed to help patients reduce pulmonary complications after surgery. A paper in the Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Safety details a decade of experience with I COUGH.

Many of our faculty participate in research to assess quality of care, and develop and evaluate innovative programs to improve patient outcomes.