VUMC to Implement Surgical Clinical Analytics Platform

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC; Nashville, TN, USA) has deployed the ArborMetrix (Ann Arbor, MI, USA) SurgicalMetrix solution, in a bid to enhance quality of care and patient outcomes.

SurgicalMetrix will integrate data from Vanderbilt's cost accounting system and hospital and professional billing systems, as well as surgical management system to provide clinical, financial, and operational performance information. It will also incorporate data from clinical outcomes registries, the US National Surgical Quality Improvement Program, and the American Hernia Society Quality Collaborative.


Three surgical divisions at the VUMC, general surgery, surgical oncology and endocrine, and trauma and surgical critical care, will take part in the first phase of the program, which will include a total of 50 surgeons. SurgicalMetrix measures all dimensions of surgical performance, identifies top performers, and highlights opportunities for improvement by measuring quality, efficiency, productivity, and financial metrics that can benefit physician executives, practice managers, surgeons, and specialists.

“As the healthcare industry continues its march to a value-based care model focused on patient outcomes, it is crucial that we are able to understand and reduce the variation in the quality and cost of care delivery,” said Daniel Beauchamp, MD, VUMC surgeon-in-chief.

“As one of the most highly regarded academic medical centers in the United States, Vanderbilt is building on the foundation set by organizations such as the University of Michigan and the American Hernia Society in using performance measurement analytics to help improve the safety and quality of care for patients,” said Brett Furst, CEO of ArborMetrix.

VUMC includes hospitals, clinics, physician practices, and affiliates covering nine hospital systems and 48 hospital locations, serving a patient base that includes more than 1.6 million patients each year. The hospitals perform more than 35,000 surgical procedures and see 65,000 emergency patients. VUMC employs 19,600 staff including biomedical research scientists in more than 100 laboratories. It is also the home of BioVU, one of the world's largest DNA databanks, which holds more than 170,000 samples, and is used to discover new genetic predictors of disease and drug action by scientists worldwide.

Related Links:
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
ArborMetrix