The Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ) will conduct a study to use additional technology in hospitals, with the overall goal of augmenting safety and preventing costly surgical complications.
Borrowed from models developed in Europe two decades ago, the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) project takes a collaborative approach, in which surgeons, anesthesia providers and nurses work closely together, according to a press release.
Adhering to four goals, the ERAS pattern is designed to speed patients' healing process, base treatment on proven methods, assess quality of care and enhance patient involvement.
Managed by the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality, 750 hospitals will participate in the study. One of the objectives is to reduce reliance on opiate painkillers in favor of less-addictive NSAIDs, the release said.
An earlier project sponsored by AHRQ cut the incidence of central line infections more than 40 percent.
