Safety, quality, and Pay-For-Performance

Safety is the most important deliverable in perioperative care, and a critical goal for the manager of any operating room (OR). Broadly dei ned, safety is the avoidance of any negative outcome from a medical intervention. In the context of surgical procedures, safety implies that everything possible has been done to accomplish the primary goal (completion of the planned surgical procedure) while minimizing the risk of a complication. “Safety” by itself is a Platonic ideal that can be approached, but never 100_ achieved. To the credit of anesthesiology, and the profession’s decades of ef ort, routine perioperative care is one of the safest of all medical events. As with the airline industry, the public expects that the safety of anesthesia will always be the highest possible consideration, and that a good outcome is assured.