The team behind (pun intended) a new protocol that’s improving outcomes for colorectal patients is attracting international attention. The American College of Surgeons (ACS) has invited a member of the team responsible for the Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Protocol — ERAS — to present at the NSQIP National Conference in Chicago this July.

“I’m super excited,” says Tracey Hong, quality and patient safety coordinator, and the abstract’s primary author.

ERAS was a winner at the 2014 BC Quality Awards and the team recently received the “Bad Ass” Award from Doctors of BC. Now, Tracey looks forward to visiting the Windy City for another team honour.

Award a huge honour

The ERAS team’s abstract was selected for the conference’s 2015 SCR Abstract Competition Award. Tracey will present the results of applying this new standard of care at VGH to about 1,000 conference participants.

“To date, we’re not aware of any other Canadian recipients,” says Andrea Bisaillon, operations director of surgical services and ERAS team member. “We’re very proud of the work that we’re doing to improve patient outcomes at VGH. This is a huge honour for a team passionate about improving results for patients.”

Andrea and ERAS teammates Drs. Garth Warnock and Kelly Mayson will join Tracey in Chicago, where she’ll receive a plaque and prize from the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) acknowledging her and the ERAS team’s contribution to patient care.

“Together, we’ve improved outcomes for elective colorectal patients by 50 per cent,” says Andrea. “It has been the work of the whole team, including patients and families, that has made the difference.”

Going forward

Since the full protocol was put into practice in November 2013, ERAS has become a standard of care for elective colorectal patients at VGH. In October 2014, the protocol was expanded to include patients undergoing radical cystectomies and planning is now underway to implement ERAS in its entirety for urgent/emergent colorectal surgeries.

“Our ultimate goal is to make ERAS a standard of care for all surgical patients as appropriate,” says Andrea.

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