Improving Surgical Outcomes through Innovative Interventions
Outcomes research is applied clinical and population-based research that seeks to study and optimize the end results of healthcare in terms of benefits to patients and society.
This research identifies shortfalls in practice in order to develop strategies to improve care.
Outcomes research is critical to the field of surgery, as it directly impacts healthcare delivery and financial reimbursement, and will likely drive the consumer healthcare market to which we are currently transitioning.
To this end, the Surgical Outcomes Analysis Research (SOAR) Collaborative was founded in March 2014 by two faculty members of the Department of Surgery, Dana A. Telem, MD, assistant professor of surgery, and Mark A. Talamini, MD, professor and chairman of surgery.
Dr. Telem serves as director of the SOAR Collaborative. She is currently pursuing an MPH, with focus on healthcare quality improvement, at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. Dr. Talamini, who has a long commitment to surgical excellence and innovation, serves as co-director.
"Surgeons have to play an active role in identifying problems, developing outcomes measures that are appropriate, and actively engaging in the process of improvement," says Dr. Telem.
Our SOAR Collaborative brings together faculty, residents, and students with an interest in outcomes-based research, clinical effectiveness, and healthcare policy.
SOAR aims to examine quality, delivery, and financing of healthcare in order to improve patient care through system improvements.
This group works together on addressing critical healthcare problems related to both specific surgical disciplines and to surgery as a whole.
Through analysis of data with both traditional and innovative research models, our SOAR group is driving improvements in healthcare and strives to significantly impact public policy and patient intervention.
SOAR requires a multidisciplinary team, and is open to all members of the Stony Brook faculty, residents, or students with an interest in healthcare outcomes and clinical effectiveness research — regardless of research experience.
We have numerous active research projects across several divisions of the Department of Surgery, with focus on vascular, plastic and reconstructive, colorectal, pediatric, hepato-biliary, bariatric, foregut, advanced gastrointestinal, and general surgery.
SOAR investigates diseases treated with surgery, analyzing factors that affect the outcomes, and providing innovative interventions.
Research from this collaborative has already gained national attention, and been presented at prestigious meetings, with the vast majority as oral presentations in plenaries and papers sessions.
These meetings include Digestive Disease Week via the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, Obesity Week via the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES), and the American College of Surgeons. Among our 2014 SOAR presentations are:
- Bariatric outcomes are significantly improved in hospitals with Fellowship Council-accredited bariatric fellowships [plenary podium presentation]. Digestive Disease Week. Chicago, IL; May 2014.
- Capturing accurate readmission rates: looking beyond our own institutions [podium presentation]. Obesity Week. Boston, MA; November 2014.
- Greater than 30-day hospital admission following bariatric surgery: patient and procedure matter [podium presentation]. SAGES Annual Meeting. Salt Lake City, UT; April 2014.
- Hospital charge is not a surrogate marker for healthcare quality in bariatric surgery [podium presentation]. American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress. San Francisco, CA; October 2014.
- Long-term mortality normalizes to the general population following bariatric surgery [plenary podium presentation]. SAGES Annual Meeting. Salt Lake City, UT; April 2014.
Interested individuals are asked to attend biweekly meetings focusing on participant initiated research ideas that are either discipline specific or concern overarching healthcare issues.
Faculty participants are paired with either a resident and/or medical student to further develop and carry projects to completion.
Residents, medical students, and healthcare policy students may also present research ideas for discussion and will be partnered with a faculty mentor to aid with project design and execution.
To aid with this process, an experienced advisory board consisting of members of the Department of Surgery, Program in Public Health, Department of Economics, and Department of Preventive Medicine has been convened.
This board is charged with providing feedback and direction for SOAR’s research agenda and application of acquired data to health policy and intervention. The board will provide advice, expertise, and recommendations to interested parties presenting research concepts.
Current advisory board members are:
- Dana A. Telem, MD, assistant professor surgery, and director of SOAR;
- Mark A. Talamini, MD, professor and chairman of surgery, and co-director of SOAR;
- Lisa A. Benz Scott, PhD, associate professor of health technology and management, and director of the Program in Public Health;
- Aurora D. Pryor, MD, professor of surgery and chief of general surgery;
- John Rizzo, PhD, professor of economics and preventive medicine;
- A. Laurie W. Shroyer, PhD, MSHA, professor of surgery and vice chair for research.
| "The establishment of SOAR in the Department of Surgery here at Stony Brook provides a means for participators at all levels, medical students to full professors, to have an impact. We all know and have heard of the impact of 'big data' on modern life. "SOAR seeks to leverage large data sets to answer questions that cannot be answered easily with other research methods. "But beyond that, SOAR will not have fully reached its potential until our findings are used to drive improvements in medical care through healthcare policy changes and changes in care. The SOAR moniker will appear on many important papers from Stony Brook." — Mark A. Talamini, MD, Professor and Chairman of Surgery, and Co-Director of the Stony Brook SOAR Collaborative |
If you are a member of the Stony Brook University community and are interested in participating in our SOAR Collaborative, or have questions about it, please contact Dr. Telem via her email. To join our SOAR list serve to receive email reminders about meeting dates and locations, please contact Laura Dinardo via her email.