SURPASS Checklist

SURPASS
The SURPASS (SURPASS (Surgical Patient Safety System) is created to reduce in-hospital mortality and surgical complications. It standardizes the operative process of all procedures, appointed responsibilities and specific checks. The checklist accompanies the patient during each step of the surgical pathway. It is split up into different stages (outpatient clinic, pre-operative ward, holding area, operating room, recovery or intensive care unit, post-operative ward, home) and focuses on the patient transfer moments in between (including admission and discharge).

Research within 6 hospitals
Research among 6 hospitals has shown that the usage of the SURPASS checklist cuts in-hospital mortality nearly in half and reduced the total number of surgical complications by about a third. It is published in Quality and Safety in Healthcare in 2009 and in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2010. The initiative is widely adpted by hospitals in the Netherlands.