Because of their expertise and insight into the quality improvement process, current and former QCMetrix personnel have been frequently asked to lecture at healthcare conferences and to provide material for publication. Examples of their knowledge-sharing include:
RESEARCH GRANTS
Principal Investigator – Majed Tomeh.
Using Pre-Operative Variables to Predict Length of Stay |SBIR Grant 1R43RR019014-01A2 /
Principal Investigator—Katherine Rowell
Development, Implementation and Evaluation of the Surgical Bed Management System | SBIR 07-232:20070814 /
Toward Robust Information: Data Quality and Inter-Rater Reliability in the ACS NSQIP
Shiloach M, Francher S, Steeger J, Rowell K, Tomeh M, Bartzokis K.
Sept. 2009 / Journal of the American College of Surgeons (JACS)
Developing a NSQIP module to measure outcomes in children’s surgical care: opportunity and challenge
P. Dillon, K. Hammermeister, E. Morrato, A. Kempe, K. Oldham, L. Moss, M. Marchildon, M. Ziegler, J. Steeger, K. Rowell
May, 2008 / Seminars in Pediatric Surgery
Use of National Surgical Quality Improvement Program data as a catalyst for quality improvement.
Rowell KS, Turrentine FE, Hutter MM.
2007:204:1293-1300. / Journal of the American College of Surgeons (JACS)
Identification of surgical complications and deaths: an assessment of the traditional surgical morbidity and mortality conference compared with the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program.
Hutter MM, Rowell KS, Devaney LA.
2006:203:618-624. / Journal of the American College of Surgeons (JACS)
Early outcomes of endovascular versus open abdominal aortic aneurysm repair in the national surgical quality improvement program-private sector (NSQIP-PS).
Hua H T, Cambria R, Chuang S, Stoner M, Kwolek C, Rowell K
2005, vol. 41, no3, pp. 382-389. / Journal of Vascular Surgery
Improving surgical wound classification—why it matters.
Devaney L, Rowell K.
August 2004, Vol 80, N2. / AORN Journal
Facing the Inevitable: Surgical Quality and Outcomes Made Public
Informatics in the Assessment of Quality of Surgical Care
Majed G. Tomeh, MS, MBA
24-Apr-2004 / American College of Surgeons, Spring Meeting / Boston, MA
Measuring quality and reporting outcomes is an important and critical component for the practicing surgeon. Surgical outcome data are also becoming more openly available to the public and consumers. Payors and legislators are urging for a wide, public dissemination of outcome-based, provider-specific performance measures. This session is dedicated to surgeon involvement in the use of outcomes for the comparative assessment and improvement of the quality of surgical care and the role of technology and informatics in these efforts.
A History of Healthcare Quality Improvement
Katherine S. Rowell, MS, MHA
24-Mar-2004 / NSQIP National Nurses Conference / San Antonio, TX
Beginning with John Snow, MD and the cholera outbreak of 1854, Ms. Rowell's lecture reviews the history of quality improvement. She discusses Florence Nightingale and the “Polar Area Diagram”, Ernest Codman, MD and the reporting of Surgical Outcomes, Edward Demming’s ground-breaking 14 points for achieving quality and continues up to the present-day healthcare quality crusader, Donald Berwick, MD. Ms. Rowell shows how these historical events have lead to our current understanding of how vital Evidence, Numbers and Comparison are to all healthcare quality improvement efforts.
Using Your NSQIP Data to Inform & Promote Quality Efforts at Your Hospital
Janet Steeger, BSN
24-Mar-2004 / NSQIP National Nurses Conference / San Antonio, TX
In this interactive seminar, using case-study methodology, Janet delivers not only a lecture but also facilitates a series of hands-on activities. The NSQIP nurses from participating hospitals learn how to interpret their NSQIP data and become empowered to lead improvement efforts at their hospitals.
ACCESS Database Training
Steve Merzlak, BSCS & Craig Miller, BSEE
24-Mar-2004 / NSQIP National Nurses Conference / San Antonio, TX
This interactive workshop teaches nurses how to perform simple queries using Microsoft ACCESS databases and to gain an understanding of relational databases. As more data is available to sites, the importance of database proficiency will only increase.
Surgical Grand Rounds Lectures
Katherine S. Rowell, MS, MHA
Newton-Wellesley Hospital
North Shore Medical Center
Mt. Auburn Hospital
University of Virginia Medical Center
Danbury Hospital
Automation of Surgical Data Collection for Quality Improvement
Manisha M. Sheode, MS; Steve Merzlak, BS; Craig Miller, BS; Laura A. Noirot, BS; Bruce L. Hall, MD; Tamara Fraley, BS, RN, MMR; Wm. Claiborne Dunagan, MD; and Thomas C. Bailey, MD
Abstract
We are developing a system to automate the task of collecting surgical data for institutional quality improvement and patient safety analysis. This system will also satisfy a growing need to report detailed clinical information to programs such as the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program/Patient Safety in Surgery data accrual project (NSQIP/PSS) in a timely, cost effective and accurate manner. Manual entry of readily available electronic data is not sustainable and must be automated if institutions are to optimize their use of these data to understand and improve clinical care.