Raising the Bar:
A Report to Physicians on Surgical Outcomes

RAISING THE BAR is a report on surgical outcomes
from the surgical services at New York Hospital Queens.
The report reflects a growing discussion at the
highest level of health care about the importance of
seeking surgery where there are solid data available to
help evaluate results. Organizations such as the Institute
of Medicine and the American College of Surgeons are
promoting the measurement of outcomes as a means of
assessing how to improve.

The general public is joining the discussion and
taking action. A recent article in The New York Times,
for example, reported how consumers are choosing
hospitals and physicians using searchable online databases
to examine the experience of individual institutions and
surgeons. The online information can be extensive,
including what procedures are performed, how many,
and with what results; costs; and many other factors.
Acknowledging that it will take considerable time
and effort to work out a reliable national system, New
York Hospital Queens supports the idea of objective
quality ratings. RAISING THE BAR provides evidence
of the hospital’s commitment to high standards and
outstanding outcomes. It is also a first step in helping to
develop a fair, sound and accessible system for making
that information available to referring physicians and
the general public.