New standards for children's surgery verification released

"This is the first time ever that there has been a formal delineation of resource standards that relate specifically to children's surgical care across all relevant disciplines," said Keith T. Oldham, MD, FACS, Chair of the Children's Surgery Verification Program and the surgeon in chief at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. "The vision is to see that every child receiving surgical care receives quality care in an environment with resources matched to his or her individual needs."

These standards, developed by the ACS in collaboration with the Task Force for Children's Surgical Care, seek to improve surgical care for children surgical patients. The new document includes revisions to the 2014 standards document and updates from lessons learned during the pilot phase of the program, such as the need for alternative training pathways for anesthesiology, emergency medicine, and radiology. The new standards also clearly state the safety data elements required for all level designations.

The pilot phase of the program was launched in April 2015. Within one month six pilot site visits were completed at diverse organizations to thoroughly review the draft standards. The new standards document comes in advance of the online application -- a pre-review questionnaire for centers seeking designation through the Children's Surgery Verification Quality Improvement Program -- expected to launch later this year.

"The standards presented in this document are the basis for the Children's Surgery Verification Program, for which the American College of Surgeons will visit centers periodically and verify that relevant standards are met and related quality improvement mechanisms are in place," said Dr. Oldham.

To access these standards, visit https://www.facs.org/quality-programs/childrens-surgery-verification/standards.