Surgical Resident and Staff Engagement in Quality Improvement Related to Surgical Site Infections: The Effect of Real-Time Feedback

Surgical site infections (SSIs) contribute to significant morbidity and at times mortality in patients. SSI reduction has been identified as a significant focus of quality improvement (QI) programs for several years.

We propose to provide real-time SSI data and integrate infection prevention experts into resident and medical staff education within the surgical departments. We believe these multidisciplinary teams, using this real-time data, can develop prevention strategies ultimately leading to reduction in SSI.

The proposed studies will have the following objectives and hypotheses to meet the overall objectives:

1.To provide real time data and education on SSI prevention as they occur to surgical disciplines at the department level.
2.Design quality improvement strategies tailored to reducing SSI at the patient care unit level by engaging the residents and attending surgeons through objective 1.
3.Reduce SSI by 50% in a 2-year time frame by implementing objectives 1 and 2.