Learn how Children’s Medical Center Dallas has been re-verified as a Level I Children’s Surgery Center and how Children’s Medical Center Plano has achieved Level II verification, marking significant milestones in pediatric surgical care.
How can patient families and providers feel confident that the hospital they select will provide the best surgical care? The American College of Surgeons (ACS) developed the Children’s Surgery Verification (CSV) Program to provide stringent guidelines for surgical excellence.
Children’s Health℠ is the first and only pediatric health system nationwide to have multiple locations receive a Children’s Surgery Verification Level I and Level II.
“Now patient families and providers can feel confident that we’ve met the most rigorous standards to deliver the highest level of care for all pediatric surgery patients – from the most complex cases to common conditions,” says Dai Chung, M.D., Chief Medical Executive for the Children’s Health and UT Southwestern joint pediatric enterprise.
Re-verification and new milestones in pediatric surgical care
Children’s Medical Center Dallas has been re-verified as a Level I Children’s Surgery Center by the ACS CSV Quality Improvement Program. This re-verification signifies the hospital's continued excellence in providing the highest level of surgical care for children. And for the first time, Children’s Medical Center Plano has been verified as a Level II Children’s Surgery Center. This achievement makes Children's Health the first pediatric system nationwide to have multiple sites receive Level I or II designations.
Children’s Medical Center Dallas is one of only five hospitals in the State of Texas to receive Level I Surgery Center verification, a distinction shared by just 53 hospitals in the U.S. This status underscores the center’s commitment to meeting the most rigorous standards in pediatric surgical care. Children’s Medical Center Plano is the first and only hospital in North Texas to receive a Level II designation – advancing access for patient families to high-quality surgical care.
The significance of CSV verification
The ACS CSV program evaluates three levels of care (Level I, II, III) and provides the nation’s first and only multispecialty standards for children’s surgical care. CSV signifies that there is a prospective match of every child’s individual surgical needs, no matter the complexity, with a care environment that has optimal resources. Children’s Health has the resources to perform even the most complex surgeries, meeting the ACS CSV standards.
After applying for this verification, centers undergo an extensive site visit by an ACS team of surveyors, which consists of experienced children's surgeons, anesthesiologists and nurses who review the center's structure, process and clinical outcomes data.
Data-driven multidisciplinary collaboration
Children’s Health has established an electronic system to log all surgical and procedural cases and categorize the outcomes based on four levels. This helps identify trends and opportunities for process improvements.
“This verification program has allowed us to use data and insights to collaborate on processes that improve all perioperative service lines. We’re not operating as silos. This is an organized, department-wide effort to help everyone be the absolute best at what they do,” says Dr. Chung.
Every month, a multidisciplinary group meets solely to review the case data. The group includes representation from every perioperative service as well as the emergency department, PICU, NICU, radiology and transport services. This standardized way to review cases and processes has resulted in better coordination and communication across perioperative services.
“There’s a greater understanding across disciplines, and we’re able to spot opportunities to improve and take action faster,” Dr. Chung says. “For example, we’ve seen a measurable improvement in the time it takes for a patient to go into surgery. That’s a direct result of clearly analyzing the data and coordinating together to change processes for the betterment of patients.”
Why Children’s Health: Raising the bar on surgical care
By achieving these verifications, Children’s Health demonstrates its unwavering commitment to providing the highest quality of surgical care for children. The re-verification of Children’s Medical Center Dallas as a Level I Surgery Center and the new verification of Children’s Medical Center Plano as a Level II Surgery Center are significant milestones that reinforce the institution's leadership in pediatric health care.
“With the processes we put in place through the verification program, we’re working together more effectively than ever before to provide seamless care. And these processes will help us continue to improve over time,” Dr. Chung says.
Tune into our latest podcast episode to hear more about the ACS verification.
