About
The SCSQC was established in 2015 when the Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina Foundation provided grant funding to Health Sciences South Carolina to establish the Collaborative in cooperation with the South Carolina Hospital Association and surgical leaders from the Medical University of South Carolina.
In 2018, the Duke Endowment provided additional grant funding to support expansion of the Collaborative. In 2020, Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) included membership in the SCSQC as part of its Rewarding Excellence program.
Structure
The Collaborative utilizes abstracted data rather than administrative data to create a risk-adjusted, real-time, data reporting system accessible directly to surgeons and Quality Improvement (QI) staff. A central data team assists with data interpretation, and a leadership team helps guide QI efforts. SCSQC conducts periodic face-to-face meetings to review data and share QI project results. Site specific data is only accessible by the site and the SCSQC data team. Site specific data is not shared with other participating sites or BCBS.
Results
Over the life of the Collaborative, the relative reduction in overall morbidity approaches 24%. Evaluation of state all-payer data shows complications in SCSQC hospitals decreased since the creation of the Collaborative, while complications increased in non-SCSQC hospitals. Financial data reveals any complication after surgery triples the charges associated with the patient’s care. Decreasing complications provides a significant return on investment.
Mission, Vision & Goals
MISSION
♦ Convene a collaborative of highly engaged surgical leaders in partnership with statewide organizations to establish infrastructure as a key component of a model learning healthcare system
♦ Target high volume, high risk general surgical procedures to decrease complications and mortality, while lowering costs and decreasing health disparities in SC
VISION
♦ South Carolina will deliver the most highly reliable, evidence-based patient-centered surgical care at the lowest cost in the nation
GOALS
♦ Achieve measurable outcomes of highest importance to patients, clinicians, and payors
♦ Decrease health disparities in South Carolina through reducing surgical morbidity and mortality in a culturally sensitive manner
♦ Improve peri-operative health care value for patients undergoing surgical procedures
♦ Deliver the highest quality care at the lowest cost and assure sustainability of the initiative