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A Penn State Nittany Lion statue is seen in the courtyard of Penn State College of Medicine in Summer 2016. The statue is in focus toward the right side of the image. Out of focus in the background, green plants and trees are visible in the courtyard.

National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP)

The American College of Surgeons (ACS) National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) is a nationally validated, risk-adjusted, outcomes-based program designed to measure and improve the quality of surgical care. It uses data gathered from medical charts by clinically trained personnel and includes demographics, preoperative risk factors, and intraoperative through 30-day postoperative outcomes data.

Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center currently participates in three ACS NSQIP programs:

  • Adult NSQIP Procedure Targeted Option – Collects data on high-risk, high-volume surgeries which include colectomy, proctectomy, appendectomy, pancreatectomy, hepatectomy, esophagectomy, lung resection, cystectomy, prostatectomy, nephrectomy, breast reconstruction and muscle flaps.
  • Pediatric NSQIP – Measures the quality of surgical care for children younger than 18 across multiple specialties.
  • Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP) – A joint program of the ACS and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS), established in 2012 for the purposes of reporting from a national registry, providing accreditation and setting standards for quality care in bariatric surgery.

ACS NSQIP provides data reports in several formats:

  • Semiannual reports: A comprehensive risk-adjusted report released twice a year using hierarchical modeling reported as odds ratios (OR) for each participating hospital.
  • Online reports: Continuously updated site-specific reports comparing our unadjusted data to national averages.
  • Participant Use Data File (PUF): An aggregate file containing national HIPAA-compliant patient level data, for the purpose of data analysis by researchers to improve the quality of surgical patient care.

Research Using NSQIP Data

If you are a current Penn State Health or visiting student, resident, intern or doctor and would like additional information about NSQIP or are considering writing a research article using Penn State Health or National NSQIP data, please email Pamela Huggins at phuggins@pennstatehealth.psu.edu for a data request form.