Winter 2024 Newsletter
Happy Holidays from the SCW team! Thank you for your partnership and leadership in transforming healthcare in Wisconsin and your support of SCW in 2024. As the year comes to a close, we hope you find time to recharge, reflect, and enjoy moments with family and loved ones.
As a valued SCW member, your dedication has been instrumental in advancing safe, effective, and patient-centered care across our state. Together, we’re making a measurable difference in surgical outcomes and healthcare equity.
This year, we invite you to further support SCW’s mission by making a year-end gift. Your contribution will sustain vital initiatives like performance benchmarking, evidence-based guideline implementation, and collaborative efforts to improve care for patients across Wisconsin. Every gift strengthens our shared commitment to excellence in surgical care. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation before December 31 to help us continue this important work.
Donate HERE
February Breast Surgical Case Conference
SCW invites surgeons performing breast procedures and quality leaders to attend the 2nd Breast Surgical Case Conference via Zoom on Wednesday, February 26, 2025, from 5:00-6:30pm CST. The conference is approved for 1.50 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits.
This conference is one of the quarterly case discussions for the initiative “Eliminate Unnecessary Axillary Surgery in Wisconsin Women Undergoing Lumpectomy for DCIS.” Our goal is to reduce the rate of unnecessary axillary nodal surgery by 25%. This initiative engages surgeons through case discussions, education sessions, and benchmarked performance reports to ensure optimal surgical care for women with DCIS.
Please join us to discuss cases, share treatment approaches, and increase engagement amongst SCW surgeons performing breast procedures across the state.
Register HERE
Updated Performance Reports
We are excited to announce that updated performance reports are now available for SCW members, featuring new data on sentinel lymph node biopsies (SLNB) in women undergoing lumpectomy for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). These reports can be accessed and downloaded via the Learning Management System (LMS):
Reducing Unnecessary Breast Cancer Surgeries
January 2022 – December 2023
- Reports now feature the rates of SLNB for women with DCIS. This initiative amplifies guidelines that do not recommend SLNB for most women with DCIS undergoing breast conserving surgery.
- Reports cover a two-year period to include a greater surgical volume.
January 2023 – December 2023
- Continuing reports on 60-day re-excision rates for breast conserving surgery.
Enhanced Recovery Protocols for Colorectal Surgery
January 2023 – December 2023
- These reports feature postop length of stay, clinical factors associated with 30-day readmissions, and patient characteristics, with comparisons to hospital and statewide averages.
We encourage you to review these updated reports to see the changes in your own practice and support SCW’s ongoing quality improvement efforts.
SAVE THE DATE: 2025 SCW Summer Meeting
Join surgeons and quality leaders from across the state on August 9, 2025, at the Heidel House Hotel and Conference Center in Green Lake, WI to discuss evidence-based quality improvement projects in the following areas:
- Opioid stewardship for surgical patients
- Implementation of multidisciplinary enhanced recovery teams
- Reducing unnecessary breast cancer surgeries
- Improving colonoscopy quality
- Improving ventral hernia outcomes
At the meeting, you can earn FREE CME credits and receive benchmarked performance reports! Meals will be provided by SCW, and families are encouraged to attend.
Watch for registration information in April!