Blair Smart, MD, MPH
Nominated From: University of Minnesota
Research Site: Mulago Hospital
Research Area: Surgery
Primary Mentor: Jennifer Rickard
Research Project
The Establishment of a Surgical Outcomes Database
Surgical registries have been a proven tool to assist in quality improvement in surgical practices. Numerous studies have demonstrated significant reductions in mortality and morbidity after the successful implementation of registries throughout the world. We will establish a surgical registry capturing relevant clinical data from surgical patients across several disciplines within the department of surgery. The findings for this registry will serve as a tool for quality improvement with the goal of improving surgical outcomes in the patients at Mulago Hospital.
Research Significance
Clinical surgical registries are defined as datasets that are created with insight from the providers within the community to advance and/or inform care. Currently, there is no formal clinical registry amongst surgical patients to track and improve care. As such, clinical practice amongst surgical providers is less likely to change when outcomes are formally recorded. A key enabler for surgeons to consider and improve is high-quality feedback on their own outcomes and how it compares to their peers. This feedback is ideally achieved but collecting information about procedures and practices to understand how to improve suboptimal outcomes.
In accordance with the results of other registries that have been implemented across the world, the most direct benefit from the implementation of this registry is the expected improvement of mortality and morbidity amongst the surgical population. Numerous other benefits will arise from the implementation of this surgical registry which includes a better understanding of disease epidemiology, promoting future research, innovation, and efficiency.
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