UPMC Division of Vascular Surgery Earns Three Stars in Vascular Quality Initiative Registry Commitment to Vascular Quality Improvement Awards

For the fifth straight year, the UPMC Division of Vascular Surgery has earned three stars from the Society for Vascular Surgery’s Vascular Quality Initiative (SVS VQI) for its active participation in the Registry Participation Program.

“The VQI registry has been an outstanding avenue to continuously assess patient outcomes and develop quality improvement projects,” says UPMC vascular surgeon, Michael Madigan, MD.

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.

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.

SVS VQI’s registries contain demographic, clinical, procedural, and outcomes data from more than 1 million vascular procedures performed in the United States, Canada and Singapore. Each record includes information from the patient’s initial hospitalization and 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.

Dr. Madigan adds, “The regional VQI meetings have opened doors for collaboration among regional institutions to regularly assess and improve outcomes for our vascular patients.”

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.

To learn more about the UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute, or to refer a patient, email HVIReferral@upmc.edu.