How to Determine Quality Indicators to Track: Q&A With Dr. John Di Capua of North American Partners in Anesthesia and North Shore-LIJ Health System

John Di Capua, MD, is deputy CEO and chief medical officer of North American Partners in Anesthesia Corp.; vice president of anesthesia services of North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System; and chairman and the Peter Walker Professor of Anesthesiology in the department of anesthesiology of Hofstra University-North Shore LIJ School of Medicine.


Q: NAPA tracks 31 different indicators as part of its quality assurance program. How does NAPA determine what quality indicators it should be tracking and measuring?
 
Dr. John Di Capua: When you think about quality indicators and the data you should be collecting, we look at two different categories of events: critical and non-critical events.  Clearly, you should be collecting data on significant critical events that should rarely happen, such as when a patient comes to harm. In addition, it’s important to collect data on non-critical events that happen post-operatively in order to minimize those occurrences as well. These would include frequent events like nausea, hypertension, high blood pressure or pain in the recovery area.