Bermudez Luis, Trost Kristen, Ayala Ruben
Research and Outcomes Department, Operation Smile, Inc., Norfolk, VA 23509, USA.
Plast Surg Int. 2013;2013:671786. doi: 10.1155/2013/671786. Epub 2013 Jan 16.
Background. Humanitarian surgical organizations consider both quantity of patients receiving care and quality of the care provided as a measure of success. However, organizational efficacy is often judged by the percent of resources spent towards direct intervention/surgery, which may discourage investment in an outcomes monitoring system. Operation Smile's established Global Standards of Care mandate minimum patient followup and quality of care. Purpose. To determine whether investment of resources in an outcomes monitoring system is necessary and effectively measures success. Methods. This paper analyzes the quantity and completeness of data collected over the past four years and compares it against changes in personnel and resources assigned to the program. Operation Smile began investing in multiple resources to obtain the missing data necessary to potentially implement a global Surgical Outcomes Auditing System. Existing personnel resources were restructured to focus on postoperative program implementation, data acquisition and compilation, and training materials used to educate local foundation and international employees. Results. An increase in the number of postoperative forms and amount of data being submitted to headquarters occurred. Conclusions. Humanitarian surgical organizations would benefit from investment in a surgical outcomes monitoring system in order to demonstrate success and to ameliorate quality of care.
背景。人道主义外科组织将接受治疗的患者数量和所提供治疗的质量都视为成功的衡量标准。然而，组织效能通常由用于直接干预/手术的资源百分比来评判，这可能会阻碍对结果监测系统的投资。“微笑行动”既定的全球护理标准规定了患者的最低随访要求和护理质量。目的。确定对结果监测系统进行资源投资是否必要以及能否有效衡量成功。方法。本文分析了过去四年收集的数据的数量和完整性，并将其与分配给该项目的人员和资源的变化进行比较。“微笑行动”开始投入多种资源以获取潜在实施全球外科手术结果审计系统所需的缺失数据。现有人力资源进行了重组，以专注于术后项目实施、数据采集与汇编，以及用于培训当地基金会和国际员工的培训材料。结果。提交给总部的术后表格数量和数据量有所增加。结论。人道主义外科组织将从对外科手术结果监测系统的投资中受益，以便证明成功并改善护理质量。
