Surgical Outcomes Analysis and Research

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Surgical Outcomes Analysis & Research (SOAR)
Company type
Boston, Massachusetts
,
United States
Key people
Jennifer F. Tseng MD, MPH
(Co-Director)
Website[1]

Surgical Outcomes Analysis & Research, SOAR, is a research laboratory of the Department of Surgery at

transplant surgery
. SOAR's goal is to examine quality, delivery, and financing of care in order to have an immediate impact on patient care and system improvements. The group members utilize national health services and administrative databases, as well as institutional databases, to investigate and to address factors contributing to disease outcomes and healthcare disparities.

The work in SOAR incorporates advanced statistical techniques, including logistic regression, prediction score, and decision analysis modeling.

About Outcomes Research

Outcomes Research evaluates the impact of health care on the health outcomes of patients and populations. This research may also include the evaluation of economic impacts linked to health outcomes, such as cost effectiveness and cost utility. An emphasis is placed on disease-oriented evaluations of care delivered in general, real-world settings. There are a wide range of outcomes to study including mortality, morbidity, functional status, mental well-being, and other aspects of health-related quality of life. Outcomes research is a multidisciplinary field of inquiry that examines the use, quality, delivery, and financing of health care services to increase knowledge and understanding of the structure, processes, and effects of health services for individuals and populations. Outcomes research provides the data to help solve critical problems that are faced in everyday clinical practice. The information learned can have an immediate impact on patient care and system improvement.

About SOAR

SOAR was founded in 2007 at

UMass Medical School
and relocated to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, in 2012.

The mission of SOAR is to decrease perioperative morbidity and mortality, address health care disparities, and increase overall patient survival and quality of life. SOAR members hope, as part of the surgical outcomes research community, to improve overall outcomes for patients with surgical diseases.

Research Goals

  • Pancreatic cancer and pancreatic disease
  • Other gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary malignancies
  • Vascular disease
  • Transplant surgery and transplant psychology
  • Investigating factors that affect surgical outcomes for diverse specialties including colorectal, cardiovascular, transplant, plastic and reconstructive, and minimally invasive surgery

About Boston Medical Center

Boston Medical Center (BMC) in Boston, Massachusetts is a teaching hospital of

Boston University School of Medicine
. Situated in Boston's South End neighborhood, BMC is the largest safety-net hospital in New England and caters to a diverse patient population from around the world.

Ongoing Research

SOAR researchers use national health services and administrative databases as well as prospective institutional tissue-linked databases to investigate factors contributing to disease outcomes for pancreatic cancer, hepato biliary disease, vascular disease, colorectal disease, plastic and reconstructive surgery, and transplant medicine. These projects are under development with the use of the following databases:

Additionally, individual research groups have access to and have expertise in disease- and specialty-specific databases. These include:

  • Vascular Study Group of New England (VSGNE), a regional vascular surgery database.
  • Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI), a national vascular surgery database.
  • American Society of Thoracic Surgery (ASTS) database
  • National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB)
  • Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients

Also, SOAR researchers are conducting patient-centered outcomes research designed to:

  • Measure health-related, functional, and other outcomes from the perspective of patients and their families
  • Develop decision aid tools and strategies to assist patients in making complex choices about their healthcare
  • Compare the effectiveness of surgical interventions on patient-reported outcomes

Personnel

  • Jennifer F. Tseng, MD, MPH - SOAR Founder and Co-Director; Surgeon-in-Chief, Boston Medical Center; James Utley Professor and Chair of Surgery, Boston University School of Medicine
  • James R. Rodrigue, PhD - SOAR Co-Director; Director, Behavioral Health Services and Research, The Transplant Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Professor, Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
  • Marc L. Schermerhorn, MD - SOAR Co-Director; Chief, Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School

Publications

Publications 2014

Publications 2013

Publications 2012

Publications 2011

Publications 2010

Publications 2009

Publications 2008

Publications 2007

See also

External links