QSCC Showed How QI and Cancer Teams Are Transforming Quality

The 2026 ACS Quality, Safety & Cancer Conference (QSCC) brought together more than 1,450 surgeons, nurses, oncologists, and data registrars for a broad examination of how quality improvement (QI), technology, teamwork, and resilience can advance surgical and cancer care.  

Held under the theme “QI Powered by AI,” the conference featured 10 General Sessions, more than 50 Breakout Sessions, and dozens of abstract sessions spanning the ACS Quality Programs and a wide range of clinical and operational topics. 

Artificial intelligence (AI) was a major focus, with sessions examining its potential to streamline QI data collection, literature review, study design, and clinical decision-making, as well as its risks, including hallucinations, poor generalizability, data limitations, and unintended deskilling.  

Two inspiring keynote speakers highlighted the importance of balancing the power of AI with human judgment, while also exploring how determination and resilience can drive achievement. One keynote speaker shared how those qualities helped her develop world-class athletic skills and how her care team’s commitment to treating her as a person, rather than simply as a case, shaped her experience as a patient. 

Other sessions focused on how embracing failure can foster learning and innovation, education as a QI tool, rural cancer disparities and the ACS Commission on Cancer Rural Cancer Program Accreditation, and sustainability in surgery. 

Read a more detailed summary of the QSCC General Sessions in the September Bulletin.