National SCIP Partnership Developing
to Reduce Surgical Complications

The Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP), a national quality partnership, is promising to be a transformational effort to prevent postoperative complications in the United States. The partnership has set its goal to reduce surgical complications by 25 percent nationally by the year 2010 in four target areas: surgical site infections and cardiac, respiratory, and venous thromboembolic complications.

A SCIP Steering Committee has been working together since 2003 to develop a quality improvement framework to advance both patient safety and the quality of care for surgical services nationwide. In preparation for an official launch in summer 2005, several developmental activities are currently underway, including completion of a three-state demonstration pilot, the formation of four technical expert panels to provide specialized guidance for improving each of the four target areas, and development of information, materials, and evidence-based strategies to help the hospitals and their professional staffs participate - and succeed - in this national effort.

The SCIP Steering Committee consists of 10 public and private organizations, including the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, American College of Surgeons, American Hospital Association, American Society of Anesthesiologists, Association of periOperative Nurses, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Veterans Affairs, Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

Preliminary information about the SCIP Partnership was presented to the medical community for the first time at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress, held October 10-14 in New Orleans, Louisiana, by one of the SCIP Steering Committee members, David Hunt, MD, FACS, medical officer with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Quality Improvement Group.

For more information, please visit and bookmark the SCIP Partnership's Website at www.MedQIC.org/scip.

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The Changing Face of Surveillance for
Healthcare-Associated Infections

The following is adapted from an article from Clinical Infectious Disease (CID), Healthcare Epidemiology Section, entitled The Changing Face of Surveillance for Healthcare-Associated Infections, by Jerome I. Tokars, Chesley Richards, Mary Andrus, Monina Klevens, Amy Curtis, Teresa Horan, John Jernigan, and Denise Cardo, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, 2004:39 (1 November).

Surveillance of healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance is an important aspect of prevention. In 2004, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had three national healthcare surveillance systems. During 2004-2005, these will be combined into a single Internet-based system, the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). The NHSN will feature a number of enhancements, and ultimately, all U.S. hospitals and other healthcare facilities will be encouraged to participate. Healthcare surveillance using standard methods has been very useful and is cited as a model for prevention. However, alternative approaches may improve healthcare surveillance by reducing complexity, decreasing the burden of data collection, and improving accuracy. These alternative approaches include adopting simpler methods and more-objective definitions, using sampling and estimation, substituting information in computer databases for manually collected data, and increasing surveillance for process measures with known prevention efficacy. Maintaining successful features of standard systems, adopting alternate surveillance approaches, and exploiting new technologies, such as the Internet, will make healthcare surveillance an even better tool for prevention.

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National Foundation for Infectious Diseases
2005 Annual Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance

Where: Hyatt Regency Bethesda, Bethesda, Maryland

When: June 27 - 29, 2005

For more information, visit their Website at www.nfid.org.

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There is Something Fishy Going on in Baltimore

By Nicole Guy, Conference Planner, APIC

Baltimore's National Aquarium, perched on the edge of the Chesapeake Bay on the Inner Harbor, is Maryland's #1 tourist attraction. Both USA Today and MSN named it as a top family adventure spot, which comes as no surprise to anyone who has visited this popular and exciting destination.

The Aquarium is home to 10,500 specimens, representing nearly 600 different species of fish, reptiles, invertebrates, birds, and mammals. Ten separate exhibit areas represent diverse habitats including Maryland's Chesapeake Watershed, the Amazon River Forest, an Upland Tropical Rainforest, an Atlantic Coral Reef, and the Atlantic Open Ocean. A separate Marine Mammal Pavilion is home to popular Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins.

Visitors' favorite animals also include stingrays, sharks, sea turtles, eels, a giant Pacific octopus, poisonous fish, piranhas, poison dart frogs, giant sturgeon, and huge nurse and tiger sharks.

The Aquarium's naturalistic exhibits are designed to teach adults and children about our various ecosystems and to foster environmental responsibility by getting people excited about the animals that are showcased. The Aquarium is a leader in local environmental education, serving as a Coastal Ecosystem Learning Center for Maryland's Chesapeake Bay region. Volunteers working with the Aquarium Conservation Team have been essential in restoring tidal wetlands by cleaning shore areas and planting wetland grasses.

The Aquarium is located within easy walking distance of the Baltimore Convention Center and the APIC 2005 Conference hotels. The building is an architectural fixture of the Inner Harbor, with a brand-new expansion opening its doors in 2005. Tickets may be purchased at the Aquarium's ticket counter (9 a.m.- 5 p.m., 7 days a week; building may be visited until 7 p.m.). Special "Immersion Tours" (in-depth tours and activities) are available on certain days and are ideal for kids (these programs have age requirements)

For detailed information on the Aquarium's animals and exhibits, as well as specific information on tickets, location, dining options, etc., please visit their Website at www.aqua.org, or call 410/576-3800.

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