Quality is in SCAI’s DNA. One of the founding tenets and enduring values of the organization involves the commitment to cath lab quality. The original cath lab registry was “ours”. The interventional world has become a much more complicated and diverse environment. Moreover, data measurements alone are insufficient to affect or maintain change. For sustainable quality, leadership, a multidisciplinary team, and physician champions are critical components of successful programs.
Although we usually think of quality from a facility standpoint, individual operators are responsible for quality. Unnecessary variability is known to contribute to worse outcomes and to increase costs. Dealing with real or perceived outliers is often difficult and frequently political. Strategies to address these issues are essential for a successful quality program.
Quality is a team sport and a journey, not a destination arrived at independently. Establishing a quality culture is more than numbers and checkboxes. It can be sustainable but also faces challenges. Help is available.