ACS NSQIP Geriatrics

The Geriatric Surgery ACS NSQIP Collaborative is a unique data registry designed to capture additional variables pertinent to the geriatric population. This collaborative began as a pilot registry called the Geriatric Pilot Project and was a joint effort between the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program® (ACS NSQIP®) and the ACS Geriatric Task Force (GTF).

Between 2014 and 2019, the pilot enrolled a total of 33 hospitals and successfully collected data on over 60,000 patients. The pilot evaluated the viability of data collection and analyzed these geriatric-specific variables to provide important insights into the care of older surgical patients. Using data from this registry, several studies have been published with significant implications for older adults:

• Association of Loss of Independence with Readmission and Death After Discharge in Older Patients After Surgical Procedures
• Enhancing the American College of Surgeons NSQIP Surgical Risk Calculator to Predict Geriatric Outcomes

The importance of geriatric-specific measures for understanding the outcomes of older adults undergoing surgery prompted the inclusion of select variables to be collected by ACS NSQIP participants for abstracted cases with patients 75 years of age or older.

The remaining geriatric variables have been revised and are available for collection by hospitals participating in the Geriatric Surgery ACS NSQIP Collaborative. Participation in this collaborative is available to hospitals enrolled in both ACS NSQIP and the Geriatric Surgery Verification (GSV) Quality Improvement Program. The GSV Program is one of the ACS’ newest quality initiatives aimed at optimizing and standardizing the surgical care of older adults. For more information on the GSV Program and the Geriatric Surgery ACS NSQIP Collaborative, please refer to the GSV website.