Vascular Quality Initiative® now includes 300 Centers on M2S PATHWAYS platform

The Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI®) now includes over 300 participating centers dedicated to quality improvement across 45 states and Canada.
Chicago, IL and West Lebanon, NH Oct 27, 2013 – The Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI®), governed by the Society for Vascular Surgery Patient Safety Organization (SVS PSO), and designed to improve the quality of vascular healthcare, has reached a milestone with 300 participating centers. The VQI is a collaborative between the Society for Vascular Surgery® Patient Safety Organization (SVS PSO), the American Venous Forum (AVF), and the Society for Vascular Medicine (SVM) and M2S, Inc.
Through regional and national benchmarking, the SVS PSO uses data for quality improvement, collected through the M2S PATHWAYS platform, to assist physicians and data managers to better understand clinical outcomes and follow up at a unique level of detail. Participating physicians have captured over 175,000 cases across 11 different vascular procedures. The VQI is now in 45 states, includes over 2300 physicians and represents almost 21% of all centers that provide vascular interventions in the United States.
Dr. Larry Kraiss, Chair of SVS PSO Governing Council for VQI, comments, “This is a remarkable milestone for the VQI which started in 2011. The rapid enrollment in VQI by the vascular community is gratifying because it confirms an existing broad and deep commitment to quality outcomes that we always knew to be present among our colleagues. Even more exciting are the prospects for quality initiatives that are only possible because we are organized around a common data platform that allows us to develop and monitor very concrete action plans that will provide useful information for evidence-based patient management on a daily basis. “
The regional quality groups of the VQI are fundamental for driving quality initiatives at the local level that reduce length of stay, readmissions, and complications. In addition to improving quality within hospitals, the VQI supports vascular research and works with device companies to support post-market device surveillance projects.
Greg Lange, President and CEO of M2S, adds “The VQI continues to increase its value to providers, hospitals and industry through expanded reporting and analytics, improved support for hospital quality improvement initiatives and innovative partnerships with the FDA and
Industry. Surpassing 300 centers is a major milestone which reflects the strong commitment to quality improvement and cost containment within the vascular community.”
In the latest developments, the SVS PSO and M2S are pioneering the use of VQI data for post- approval surveillance in vascular surgery in place of the traditional recruitment of sites by medical device companies. This approach allows for faster and less expensive recruitment of sites, and is strongly encouraged by the FDA.
The newest registry, focusing on the treatment of Varicose Veins, will be released in December 2014. For more information on the Vascular Quality Initiative, please go to www.vascularqualityinitiative.org