The South African Collaborative Surgical Outcomes Study (SACSOS)

Improving quality of perioperative care depends on reliable measurement of clinically important and patient-centred data, that will allow collaborative decision-making between patient and clinician. The use of digital health tools to share person-centric data with the aim of improving quality of care is encouraged by the World Health Organization Global Strategy on Digital Health. With virtual and online communication becoming a universal feature of modern life, there is a promising opportunity to engage patients and clinicians in perioperative data collection using digital health platforms. The Perioperative Shared Health Record (PSHR), developed by Safe Surgery South Africa, provides the opportunity to capture standardised patient-centric postoperative outcomes measures, like Quality of Recovery (QOR), Health Related Quality of Life (HRQOL), the WHO Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS). These are all standardised measures and questionnaires, which have been recommended by working groups focused on the patient's experience after surgery. The PSHR enables sharing of data between the surgical patient and his/her clinical team (surgeons and anaesthetists).