The descriptions for this measure come from source: www.leapfroggroup.org.

Some pancreatic cancer patients may be eligible for a pancreatic resection, particularly if the cancer has not spread to any blood vessels, distant lymph nodes or other organs. In this procedure, the surgeon will remove part of the pancreas and may also need to remove the gall bladder, the bile duct and a piece of the small intestine.

Research has shown that patients have better outcomes when they have their pancreatic resection for cancer performed at a hospital and by a surgeon that have more experience with the procedure. These include lower mortality rates, lower complication rates, and a shorter length of stay than for patients who have their surgery done at a hospital or by a surgeon with less experience. Hospitals should also have processes and protocols in place to ensure that surgeries are not performed when not needed, known as surgical appropriateness.

To fully meet standards,

• The hospital met the minimum hospital volume standard for pancreatic resection for cancer surgery; and
• The hospital’s process for privileging surgeons includes meeting or exceeding the minimum surgeon volume standard.

Scores are reported as:

1 = Willing to Report
2 = Some Progress
3 = Substantial Progress
4 = Fully Meets the Standard

Note: In this measure, a higher number is better.