The Role of the American College of Surgeons in Advancing Perioperative Safety and Efficiency

For more than 100 years, the American College of Surgeons (ACS) has been a long-standing national leader in setting the standard of optimal patient care and advocating for maximal perioperative safety and efficiency. Aligned with the missions of implementing professional standards, creating benchmarks in system performance, and training and accrediting surgeons, the ACS has implemented Quality Improvement Programs (QIPs) and nationwide validated databases, fostered collaborative multidisciplinary consensus statements and task forces, and created resident curriculum focused on perioperative safety. The National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP), one of the long-standing QIPs of ACS, has allowed for quality- and safety-focused research that have evaluated current practice patterns, identified risk calculators and prediction of high-risk groups, and provided benchmark standards—all translating to improved patient care and lower morbidity and mortality. Developed in the same spirit of ACS-NSQIP, the Safety Program for Improving Surgical Care and Recovery (ISCR), the Committee on Perioperative Care (CPC), and the Council on Surgical and Perioperative Safety (CSPS) have been created, allowing for collaborative consensus statements and benchmark standards. Lastly, the ACS has worked with the ACGME in promoting and standardizing perioperative safety in resident curricula and integrating residents into patient care. The ACS continues to lead the movement toward improved perioperative safety and efficiency, by setting the standards of care and promoting excellence in training the next generation of surgeons.