HJAR Jul/Aug 2019

Healthcare Journal of ARKANSAS  I  JUL / AUG 2019 55 Sid Dassinger, MD Professor of Surgery UAMS and Arkansas Children’s Hospital Medical Director of Surgical Quality at Children’s Hopsital so the verification process for ACS CSV was familiar. We started initial conversa- tions in 2017, and established the current PIPS committee in early 2018. Ultimately, we submitted the application in November 2018, had the site visit in April 2019, and became verified in May 2019. The criteria specify that care providers have pediatric-specific training, and that facilities are equipped to provide optimal surgical care to the child. It was instru- mental that all providers involved with the care of surgical patients were committed to meeting the criteria that pertained to their specialty. Q: How was this a multidisciplinary ef- fort between teams? A: There has to be a commitment on ev- ery level to make this work. From pediatric anesthesia, surgical and medical provid- “From pediatric an- esthesia, surgical and medical providers, nursing and hospi- tal administration – all teams are held to quality standards based on their special- ty, and they have to meet or exceed those standards.” Sid Dassinger, MD is a Professor of Surgery (Pro- fessor as of July 1) at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. He works in the division of pediatric surgery at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Dr. Dassinger graduated from the University of Alabama School of Medicine in 2000. He went on to complete a general surgery residency at Vanderbilt University and fellowship in Memphis at Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center and St Jude Children’s Research Hospital. He holds board certification in both general surgery and pediatric surgery. Dr. Dassinger is a member of many professional societies, such as the Amer- ican College of Surgeons, American Pediatric Surgical Association, and International Pediatric Endosurgical Group. He has specific interests in neonatal surgery, chest wall deformities, child- hood tumors, and minimally invasive surgery. ers, nursing and hospital administration – all teams are held to quality standards based on their specialty, and they have to meet or exceed those standards. This pro- cess helps break down silos that can exist in hospitals, promoting teamwork and a unified goal of providing the best surgical care possible for the child. Q: Why is this verification important to ACH and the children of Arkansas? A: It should be a comfort to providers in Arkansas to know they are sending their patients to a place that is totally commit- ted to quality pediatric surgical care, and has been validated to the highest stan- dard by an outside committee. It should be a comfort to families to know there is a place available to their child that has been proven to provide the highest quality of care available. To keep that verification, we will benchmark outcomes against oth- er hospitals and constantly look for ways to improve and demonstrate performance improvement. n