Quality Verification News: May 2026

Learn How Standards Become Results at QSCC

The Quality Verification Program (QVP), Vascular Verification Program (Vascular-VP), and Emergency General Surgery (EGS) tracks at the Quality, Safety & Cancer Conference (QSCC), July 30–August 2 in Orlando, Florida, offer a comprehensive look at how hospitals are translating verification standards into meaningful, sustainable improvements in care. These sessions go beyond theory—featuring real-world examples, actionable strategies, and candid insights from program leaders who have successfully implemented quality infrastructure, engaged multidisciplinary teams, and demonstrated measurable value within their institutions.

Across the QVP track, sessions will highlight practical approaches to strengthening core quality systems, from case review to preoperative optimization, and more. Attendees will gain insight into how hospitals are building reliable processes that drive continuous improvement and align quality efforts with organizational priorities. Featured QVP sessions include:

• Quality Improvement in Action: From Review to Resolution: Practical Tools for Streamlined Case Review and Accountability
• Optimizing Patients, Maximizing Value: Smarter Preoperative Processes that Improve Outcomes and Cut Costs
• Evolving Excellence—What’s New in the Quality Verification Program
• Turning Protocols into Practice

The Vascular-VP track focuses on demonstrating the clinical and operational value of vascular verification, with sessions designed to help programs secure resources, leverage data, and communicate impact to leadership. Attendees will hear directly from verified centers on how they have used Vascular-VP standards to strengthen their programs and drive results. Featured Vascular-VP sessions include:

• How Vascular-VP Helps You Hardwire and Demonstrate Your Vascular Centers’ Success
• How Vascular Excellence Shapes the Hospital’s Bottom Line
• Turning Protocols into Practice

The EGS track highlights system-level approaches to emergency general surgery, emphasizing data-driven improvement, operational efficiency, and multidisciplinary collaboration. Sessions will explore how hospitals are scaling EGS programs, leveraging National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) data, and building sustainable models for quality improvement across diverse care settings. Featured EGS sessions include:

• Scaling EGS: Turning Verification and Data into System-Wide Impact at Atrium Health
• EG$ Economics
• Leading Quality Through EGS: An Open Forum Discussion for EGS Program Leaders
• NSQIP EGS Data Demystified: Practical Tools for Success
• Turning Protocols into Practice

Together, these tracks provide a unique opportunity to learn from peers, explore proven strategies, and gain practical tools to advance quality, safety, and value across surgical programs. Register for the conference and browse more sessions in the Program Agenda.

Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center Is First QVP-Verified VA Site

The Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Houston, Texas, has become the first Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital to achieve verification through the ACS Quality Verification Program (QVP), representing a significant milestone in the advancement of standardized surgical quality and safety within the VA system. Their participation reflects a strong institutional commitment to continuous improvement, multidisciplinary collaboration, and high-reliability surgical care for our veterans.

“At the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston, we take great pride in the high quality of surgical care we offer to our veterans,” shared Konstantinos Makris, MD, MPH, FACS, the site’s surgical quality officer. “This quality is reflected not only in our excellent clinical outcomes reported by the Veterans Health Administration, but also in the robustness of our patient safety and quality improvement processes that the American College of Surgeons has independently verified.”

The site emphasized the value of QVP not only as a verification process, but as a framework for strengthening and organizing surgical quality infrastructure. “ACS QVP is a comprehensive, well-designed program that provides rigorous evaluation and verification, but, most importantly, offers an important framework that participant hospitals can use to organize and enhance their processes on patient safety and surgical quality,” Dr. Makris noted. “We are looking forward to a continued, fruitful partnership with the ACS to maintain our high standards and further improve our surgical care for the benefit of our veterans.”

Don’t Miss the “Winning in Value-Based Vascular Care” Session at the Vascular Annual Meeting

This session, “Winning in Value-Based Vascular Care: Maximizing Reimbursement & Proving Value Through Verification,” highlights how vascular programs can succeed in value-based care by demonstrating clinical excellence and financial impact. Speakers will share practical insights on leveraging verification to strengthen quality infrastructure, using data to support institutional priorities, and communicating value to leadership, while also touching on key considerations within the Quality Payment Program. Through real-world perspectives, attendees will gain a clearer understanding of how participation in the Vascular Verification Program and other ACS quality programs can improve outcomes, enhance program visibility, and deliver measurable return on investment.

The Vascular Annual Meeting will be held June 10–13 in Boston, Massachusetts.