Surgical site infection metrics: Dissecting the differences between the National Health and Safety Network and the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program

Surgical site infections (SSIs) are associated with readmissions, reoperations, increased cost of care, and overall morbidity and mortality risk. The National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) and the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) have developed an array of metrics to monitor hospital-acquired complications. The only metric collected by both is SSI, but performance as benchmarked against peer hospitals is often discordant between the 2 systems. In this commentary, we outline the differences between these 2 surveillance systems as they relate to this potential for discordance.