RSS Coordinator(s):

• Cynita Blalock -  [email protected]

Series Overview

The Heart & Vascular Surgery M&M Monthly Conference is a structured, multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed forum for the Cardiac Surgical Critical Care Unit and Telemetry/Inpatient Surgical Services at Baystate. The conference reviews selected operative and postoperative cases with complications, unexpected outcomes, near-misses, and process deviations to identify contributory factors across clinical decision-making, technical execution, communication, and systems of care. The primary goal is quality improvement: translating lessons learned into standardized best practices, actionable process changes, and measurable outcome improvements across the entire perioperative continuum.  This conference is conducted as a protected quality improvement (QI) activity, intended to promote candid discussion, learning, and continuous improvement—not blame or punitive review. Findings and action items are tracked to support ongoing standardization, enhance reliability of care, and improve patient outcomes.

Intended Audience

Surgical and procedural, Cardiac surgeons / heart & vascular surgeons (attendings), Surgical fellows / residents, Advanced practice providers (NPs/PAs) for cardiac surgery / inpatient services, Perfusionists
OR nursing leadership (circulating/scrub representation), Anesthesia (cardiac anesthesiologists), OR anesthesia team members as relevant (CRNAs/AA), Critical care and inpatient medical care, Cardiac surgical intensivists, ICU advanced practice providers, ICU nursing leadership and bedside nurse representation, Telemetry/unit nursing leadership and bedside nurse representation, Hospitalist or medicine consult representation (if involved in co-management), Respiratory therapy leadership and bedside RT representation, Cardiology and subspecialty partners, Cardiology (HF, EP, interventional—based on case), Vascular medicine/vascular surgery (if applicable), Nephrology (especially for AKI/RRT cases), Infectious Diseases. Neurology / stroke team (as needed), Hematology / anticoagulation experts (as needed), Diagnostics and support services, Pharmacy (ICU + inpatient clinical pharmacists), Clinical nutrition / dietitians, Physical therapy / occupational therapy, Speech-language pathology, (swallow/aspiration cases), Wound/ostomy nursing, Case management / care coordination, Social work, Quality, safety, and operations, Quality & patient safety leadership (QI specialist), Risk management (optional depending on institutional approach), Infection prevention, Data/analytics (STS abstractor or outcomes analyst), Unit/ service line administrators or ops leaders (as appropriate), Other key stakeholders (case-dependent), ECMO/VAD team (if applicable), Blood bank / transfusion medicine (bleeding/MTP cases), Radiology leadership (CT/IR issues), Lab/pathology (e.g., hemolysis, HIT, cultures)

Planning Committee

Accreditation

Accreditation Statement

In support of improving patient care, Baystate Health is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team. 

Credit Designation Statements

Physicians (AMA) Baystate Continuing Interprofessional Education designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)TM.  Physicians should only claim the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Baystate Continuing Interprofessional Education designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 contact hour(s).  Nurses should only claim the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Pharmacists (ACPE) Baystate Health designates this activity for a maximum of 1.0 contact hour(s) for pharmacists. Pharmacists should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Physician Assistants (AAPA) Baystate Health has been authorized by the American Academy of PAs (AAPA) to award AAPA Category 1 CME credits for activities planned in accordance with AAPA CME Criteria. This activity is designated for 1.0 AAPA Category 1 CME credit(s). PAs should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation.

Continuing Education Units

This activity was planned by and for the healthcare team and learners will receive 1.0 Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) credit for learning and change.

POLICY ON FACULTY AND SPONSOR DISCLOSURE

The design and content of Baystate Continuing Interprofessional Education (CE) activities support quality improvement in healthcare and provide fair and balanced views of therapeutic options. Any relevant financial relationships are mitigated prior to the educational activity.

None of the planners for this educational activity have relevant financial relationship(s) to disclose with ineligible companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.                                                                        

RSS Format: 
Webinar

Live Stream Available: 
Zoom
Please email Cynita Blalock -  [email protected] if Zoom link is needed

Global Objectives: 

As a result of participation in this educational series, members of the healthcare team will be able to:

1. Identify common perioperative and postoperative complications and near-misses using shared, evidence-based definitions and a structured timeline-based review approach.
2. Apply standardized, ERAS-aligned clinical pathways and local order sets/PowerPlans to prevent, recognize, and manage high-impact complications (e.g., bleeding/transfusion, atrial fibrillation, vasoplegia/shock, respiratory failure, delirium, AKI, pain/opioid stewardship, glycemic control, and infection prevention).
3. Implement consistent escalation and rescue strategies across the OR–ICU–telemetry continuum, including clear thresholds for consult activation, attending notification, and ICU transfer from telemetry.
4. Demonstrate reliable, closed-loop communication and high-quality handoffs with explicit contingency plans to reduce errors across disciplines and across shifts.
5. Translate M&M findings into measurable quality improvement by generating specific action items (protocol/order set updates, workflow changes), assigning ownership, and using audit-and-feedback to monitor adoption and impact.

Team-Based (IPCE) Learning Objective:
Collaborate effectively as an interprofessional team to analyze cases, align on shared mental models and roles/responsibilities, and implement coordinated system changes that improve reliability of care delivery and patient outcomes

Interprofessional RSS: 
Yes

Credits Available: 
ACPE (Pharmacists)
AMA PRA Category 1 Credit^TM (Physicians)
ANCC (Nurses)
AAPA (Physician Assistants)
IPCE (Interprofessional Continuing Education)