Quality improvement in transplant anesthesia: which way forward?
OBJECTIVE
Quality improvement efforts are increasingly applied in transplant medicine and are related to graft/patient outcomes and reimbursement from third-party insures. Perioperative care of transplant patients has only recently attracted attention and quality improvement efforts are not well established.


RESULTS
Research investigations in perioperative care of transplant patients frequently focus on only one variable (i.e., transfusion rate) and, therefore, are of limited significance.


CONCLUSIONS
In order to improve perioperative care of transplant patients, perioperative quality improvement protocols have to be established at transplant centers. These protocols need to include a comprehensive electronic database that can be easily queried, a periodic review of practice pattern based on existing data, and a well established mechanism for necessary practice adjustments.
Niemann
Claus U
CU
Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, Division of Transplantation, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143-0648, USA. niemannc@anesthesia.ucsf.edu
Feiner
John
J
D000758:Anesthesia / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000592:standards*; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D016377:Organ Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000592:standards*; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D019990:Perioperative Care; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D016896:Treatment Outcome