SCOAP helps the surgical community to work together toward the common goal of improving surgical care and health outcomes. We help our members define quality metrics, track hospital performance, and reduce variability and errors in surgical care. Our quality improvement program helps clinicians deliver the highest quality of care by collecting information about the care patients receive, benchmarking it against standards and providing data that is used to drive improvements in care.

How does SCOAP compare to other programs whose goal is to improve processes and outcomes?

SCOAP is a quality improvement program, not an accreditation mechanism or a data registry. SCOAP’s key attributes are the following:

• Protection of data from disclosure via its CQIP status and the ability of SCOAP to decide its own evolution on matters of disclosure and public accountability
• Leadership of hospitals and surgeons in guiding program development and strategy
• Inclusion of generic, as well as disease- and procedure- specific measures using process and outcome variables.
• Commitment to quality improvement, not punishment or exclusion
• Quick turn-around on meaningful data: immediate site- and surgeon- specific data, as well as comparative reports; benchmarking facilitates quality improvement efforts
• Nimble platform to select procedures/populations of interest in response to public health needs, as well as internal site-specific ones
• Development of a community of providers who can learn from one another in a trusted, collaborative environment

What procedures are included in SCOAP?

SCOAP collects data on the following patient populations: colorectal procedures (both elective and non-elective), bariatric surgery, appendectomies (adult and for pediatric–both medically managed and surgically managed appendicitis), as well as small bowel obstruction. These patient populations and procedure types were chose because they had been identified as being high volume, having a high variation in process and/or outcomes, and growing in volume. Therefore, these procedures have significant opportunity for improvement in care and/or outcome. Additional procedures are added as need arises.

How does SCOAP help improve surgical care and outcomes?

SCOAP provides sites and surgeons data that they need to effectively make improvements in care by identifying, tracking and comparing their processes and outcomes, and benchmarking them with colleagues across the region.

SCOAP offers unique benefits to Washington hospitals and surgeons and to the public.

SCOAP data is used by member sites for a variety of needs, including patient safety, process improvement, and accreditation. SCOAP is an opportunity for key stakeholders to work jointly–payers, purchasers, providers, and patients–to improve the quality of care without turning over that responsibility to a national organization.