Surgical Outcomes Analysis & Research, SOAR, is a research laboratory of the Department of Surgery at Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center with expertise in outcomes research. SOAR investigates surgical diseases and perioperative outcomes. The group focuses on pancreatic cancer, other gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary malignancies, vascular disease, and transplant surgery. SOAR's goal is to examine quality, delivery, and financing of care in order to have an immediate impact on patient care and system improvements. The group members utilize national health services and administrative databases, as well as institutional databases, to investigate and to address factors contributing to disease outcomes and healthcare disparities.
The work in SOAR incorporates advanced statistical techniques, including logistic regression, prediction score, and decision analysis modeling.
Outcomes Research evaluates the impact of health care on the health outcomes of patients and populations. This research may also include the evaluation of economic impacts linked to health outcomes, such as cost effectiveness and cost utility. An emphasis is placed on disease-oriented evaluations of care delivered in general, real-world settings. There are a wide range of outcomes to study including mortality, morbidity, functional status, mental well-being, and other aspects of health-related quality of life. Outcomes research is a multidisciplinary field of inquiry that examines the use, quality, delivery, and financing of health care services to increase knowledge and understanding of the structure, processes, and effects of health services for individuals and populations. Outcomes research provides the data to help solve critical problems that are faced in everyday clinical practice. The information learned can have an immediate impact on patient care and system improvement.
SOAR was founded in 2007 at UMass Medical School and relocated to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, in 2012.
The mission of SOAR is to decrease perioperative morbidity and mortality, address health care disparities, and increase overall patient survival and quality of life. SOAR members hope, as part of the surgical outcomes research community, to improve overall outcomes for patients with surgical diseases.
Other gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary malignancies
Vascular disease
Transplant surgery and transplant psychology
Investigating factors that affect surgical outcomes for diverse specialties including colorectal, cardiovascular, transplant, plastic and reconstructive, and minimally invasive surgery
Boston Medical Center (BMC) in Boston, Massachusetts is a teaching hospital of Boston University School of Medicine. Situated in Boston's South End neighborhood, BMC is the largest safety-net hospital in New England and caters to a diverse patient population from around the world.
SOAR researchers use national health services and administrative databases as well as prospective institutional tissue-linked databases to investigate factors contributing to disease outcomes for pancreatic cancer, hepato biliary disease, vascular disease, colorectal disease, plastic and reconstructive surgery, and transplant medicine. These projects are under development with the use of the following databases:
Jennifer F. Tseng, MD, MPH - SOAR Founder and Co-Director; Surgeon-in-Chief, Boston Medical Center; James Utley Professor and Chair of Surgery, Boston University School of Medicine
James R. Rodrigue, PhD - SOAR Co-Director; Director, Behavioral Health Services and Research, The Transplant Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Professor, Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Marc L. Schermerhorn, MD - SOAR Co-Director; Chief, Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School
Arous EJ, McDade TP, Smith JK, Ng SC, Sullivan ME, Zottola RJ, Ranauro PJ, Shah SA, Whalen GF, Tseng JF (Apr 2014). "Electronic medical record: research tool for pancreatic cancer?". J Surg Res. 187 (2): 466–70. doi:10.1016/j.jss.2013.10.036. PMID24326179.
Bliss LA, Yang CJ, Chau Z, Ng SC, McFadden DW, Kent TS, Moser AJ, Callery MP, Tseng JF. "Patient selection and the volume effect in pancreatic surgery: unequal benefits? HPB (Oxford) 2014 Jun 6.
Gilmore D; et al. (2014). "Endovascular Management of Critical Limb Ischemia in Renal Transplant Patients". Annals of Vascular Surgery. 28 (1): 159–163. doi:10.1016/j.avsg.2012.12.007. PMID24011817.
Glazier AK, Heffernan K, Rodrigue JR. "A framework for conducting deceased donor research in the U.S." Transplantation. In Press.
Kazley AS, Jordan J, Simpson KN, Chavin K, Rodrigue J, Baliga P (2014). "Development and testing of a disease-specific health literacy measure in kidney transplant patients". Prog Transplant. 24 (3): 263–70. doi:10.7182/pit2014958. PMID25193727. S2CID207535320.
LaPointe Rudow D, Hays R, Baliga P, Cohen DJ, Cooper M, Danovitch GM, Dew MA, Gordon EJ, Mandelbrot DA, McGuire S, Milton J, Moore DR, Morgieivich M, Schold JD, Segev DL, Serur D, Steiner RW, Tan JC, Waterman AD, Zavala E, Rodrigue JR. "Consensus Conference on Best Practices in Live Kidney Donation: Recommendations to optimize education, access, and care". Am J Transplant.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Rodrigue JR, Leishman R, Vishnevsky T, Evenson AR, Mandelbrot DA. "Concerns of ABO incompatible and crossmatch-positive potential donors and recipients about participating in kidney exchanges." Clin Transplant. In Press.
Rodrigue JR, Schold JD, Morrissey J, Whiting J, Vella J, Kayler L, Katz D, Jones J, Kaplan B, Fleishman A, Pavlakis M, Mandelbrot DA. "Pre-donation direct and indirect costs incurred by adults who donated a kidney: Findings from the KDOC study." Am J Transplant. In Press.
Schold JD, Buccini LB, Rodrigue JR, Mandelbrot D, Goldfarb DA, Flechner SM, Kayler LK, Poggio ED. "Critical factors associated with missing follow-up data for living kidney donors in the United States." Am J Transplant. In Press.
Yang CJ, Bliss LA, Schapira EF, Freedman SD, Ng SC, Windsor JA, Tseng JF. "Systematic Review of Early Surgery for Chronic Pancreatitis: Impact on Pain, Pancreatic Function, and Re-intervention. J Gastrointest Surg. 2014 Jun 19.
Arous, Edward J., et al. "Electronic medical record: research tool for pancreatic cancer?." Journal of Surgical Research (2013).
Bayliss George P, et al. (2013). "Immunosuppression after renal allograft failure: a survey of US practices". Clinical Transplantation. 27 (6): 895–900. doi:10.1111/ctr.12254. PMID24118389. S2CID9547616.
Bensley, Rodney P., et al. "Accuracy of administrative data versus clinical data to evaluate carotid endarterectomy and carotid stenting." Journal of Vascular Surgery (2013).
Bensley, Rodney P., et al. "Risk of late-onset adhesions and incisional hernia repairs after surgery." Journal of the American College of Surgeons (2013).
Bensley, Rodney P., et al. "Open repair of intact thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program." Journal of Vascular Surgery (2013).
Buck Dominique B., et al. "Endovascular treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms." National Review of Cardiology (2013).
Chau, Zeling, et al. "Rankings versus reality in pancreatic cancer surgery: a real‐world comparison." HPB (2013).
Edwards, Samuel T., et al. "Comparative effectiveness of endovascular versus open repair of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm in the Medicare population." Journal of Vascular Surgery (2013).
Fokkema, M., et al. "Clinical Relevance of Cranial Nerve Injury following Carotid Endarterectomy." European Journal of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery (2013).
Fokkema, Margriet, et al. "In-hospital vs postdischarge adverse events following carotid endarterectomy." Journal of Vascular Surgery (2013).
Fokkema, Margriet, et al. "Selective external endarterectomy in patients with ipsilateral symptomatic internal carotid artery occlusion." Journal of Vascular Surgery (2013).
Kalish, Brian T., et al. "Quality Assessment in Pancreatic Surgery: What Might Tomorrow Require?." Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery' 17.1 (2013): 86-93.
Khoynezhad A., et al. "Results of a multicenter, prospective trial of thoracic endovascular aortic repair for blunt thoracic aortic injury (RESCUE trial)." Journal of Vascular Surgery (2013).
Lo, Ruby C., et al. "Gender differences in abdominal aortic aneurysm presentation, repair, and mortality in the Vascular Study Group of New England." Journal of Vascular Surgery (2013).
Lo, Ruby C., et al. "Outcomes following infrapopliteal angioplasty for critical limb ischemia." Journal of Vascular Surgery (2013).
Lo, Ruby C., et al. "Presentation, treatment, and outcome differences between men and women undergoing revascularization or amputation for lower extremity peripheral arterial disease." Journal of Vascular Surgery (2013).
Lo Ruby C., et al. "Relative importance of aneurysm diameter and body size for predicting abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture in men and women." Journal of Vascular Surgery (2013).
Rodrigue JR, Hanto DW, Curry MP (2013). "The Alcohol Relapse Risk Assessment: a scoring system to predict the risk of relapse to any alcohol use after liver transplant". Progress in Transplantation. 23 (4): 310–318. doi:10.7182/pit2013604. PMID24311394. S2CID207535298.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Rodrigue, James R., et al. "Trajectories of Perceived Benefits in Living Kidney Donors: Association With Donor Characteristics and Recipient Outcomes." Transplantation (2013).
Rodrigue, James R., Jesse D. Schold, and Didier A. Mandelbrot. "The Decline in Living Kidney Donation in the United States: Random Variation or Cause for Concern?." Transplantation (2013).
Schermerhorn, Marc L., et al. "The impact of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services high-risk criteria on outcome after carotid endarterectomy and carotid artery stenting in the SVS Vascular Registry." Journal of Vascular Surgery (2013).
Siracuse, Jeffrey J., et al. "Prosthetic graft infections involving the femoral artery." Journal of Vascular Surgery (2013).
Smith, Jillian K., et al. "Does increasing insurance improve outcomes for US cancer patients?." Journal of Surgical Research (2013).
Yoshida, Shunsuke, et al. "The current national criteria for carotid artery stenting overestimate its efficacy in patients who are symptomatic and at high risk." Journal of Vascular Surgery (2013).
Ragulin-Coyne, Elizaveta, et al. "Perioperative mortality after pancreatectomy: a risk score to aid decision-making." Surgery (2012).
Rodrigue James R, et al. (2012). "A Department of Motor Vehicles intervention yields moderate increases in donor designation rates". Progress in Transplantation. 22 (1): 18–24. doi:10.7182/pit2012436. PMID22489439. S2CID12500162.
Tseng, Jennifer F. "Proceed with Caution: Vascular Resection at Pancreaticoduodenectomy." Annals of Surgical Oncology (2012): 1-2.
Witkowski Elan R, et al. (2012). "Is it worth looking? Abdominal imaging after pancreatic cancer resection: a national study". Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery. 16 (1): 121–128. doi:10.1007/s11605-011-1699-z. PMID21972054. S2CID29724717.
Burr AT, Csikesz NG, Gonzales E, Tseng JF, Saidi RF, Bozorgzadeh A, Shah SA (Jun 2011). "Comparison of Right Lobe Donor Hepatectomy with Elective Right Hepatectomy for Other Causes in New York". Dig Dis Sci. 56 (6): 1869–75. doi:10.1007/s10620-010-1489-6. PMID21113662. S2CID2396915.
Burr AT, Li Y, Tseng JF, Saidi RF, Bozorgzadeh A, Shah SA (2011). "Survival After Liver Transplantation Using Hepatitis C Virus-Positive Donor Allografts: Case-Controlled Analysis of the UNOS Database". World J. Surg. 35 (7): 1590–1595. doi:10.1007/s00268-011-1019-5. PMID21384242. S2CID96561.
Clark Emma; Hanto Ruthanne; Rodrigue James R (2010). "Barriers to implementing protocols for kidney paired donation and desensitization: survey of US transplant programs". Progress in Transplantation. 20 (4): 357–365. doi:10.7182/prtr.20.4.b0p721850xm52087. PMID21265289.
Rodrigue James R, et al. (2010). "Spouse caregivers of kidney transplant patients: quality of life and psychosocial outcomes". Progress in Transplantation. 20 (4): 335–343. doi:10.7182/prtr.20.4.g65r17525j278251. PMID21265286.
Singla A, Hart JL, Li Y, Tseng JF, Shah SA (Feb 2011). "Hospitalization for Complications of Cirrhosis: Does Volume Matter?". J Gastrointest Surg. 15 (2): 330–5. doi:10.1007/s11605-010-1398-1. PMID21108014. S2CID21450789.
Witkowski Elan R, et al. (2012). "Is it worth looking? Abdominal imaging after pancreatic cancer resection: a national study". Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery. 16 (1): 121–128. doi:10.1007/s11605-011-1699-z. PMID21972054. S2CID29724717.
Al-Refaie WB, Gay G, Virnig BA, Tseng JF, Stewart A, Vickers SM, Tuttle TM, Feig BW (Jan 2010). "Variations in gastric cancer care: a trend beyond racial disparities". Cancer. 116 (2): 465–75. doi:10.1002/cncr.24772. PMID19950130. S2CID25598183.
Burr AT, Csikesz NG, Gonzales E, Tseng JF, Saidi RF, Bozorgzadeh A, Shah SA (2010). "Comparison of Right Lobe Donor Hepatectomy with Elective Right Hepatectomy for Other Casuses in New york". Dig Dis Sci. 56 (6): 1869–1875. doi:10.1007/s10620-010-1489-6. PMID21113662. S2CID2396915.
Burr AT, Shah SA (Apr 2010). "Disparities in Organ Allocation and Access to Liver Transplantation in the United States". Expert Review of Gastroenterology & Hepatology. 4 (2): 133–40. doi:10.1586/egh.10.10. PMID20350260. S2CID38576124.
Carroll JE, Smith JK, Simons JP, Murphy MM, Ng SC, Shah SA, Zhou Z, Tseng JF (Nov 2010). "Redefining mortality after pancreatic cancer resection". J Gastrointest Surg. 14 (11): 1701–8. doi:10.1007/s11605-010-1326-4. PMID20844977. S2CID7124619.
Colombo B, Singla A, Li Y, Tseng JF, Saidi RF, Bozorgzadeh A, Shah SA (Dec 2010). "Current trends and short-term outcomes of live donor nephrectomy: a population-based analysis of the nationwide inpatient sample". World J. Surg. 34 (12): 2985–90. doi:10.1007/s00268-010-0770-3. PMID20811748. S2CID9958285.
Hill JS, Zhou Z, Simons JP, Ng SC, McDade TP, Whalen GF, Tseng JF (Jul 2010). "A Simple Risk Score to Predict In-Hospital Mortality after Pancreatic Resection for Cancer". Ann Surg Oncol. 17 (7): 1802–1807. doi:10.1245/s10434-010-0947-x. PMID20155401. S2CID12857618.
Manasanch EE, Smith JK, Bodnari A, McKinney J, Gray C, McDade TP, Tseng JF. "Tumor registry versus physician medical record review: A head-tohead comparison of pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor cases. In press, Journal of Oncology Practice.
Murphy MM, Ng SC, Simons JP, Csikesz NG, Shah SA, Tseng JF (Jul 2010). "Predictors of Major Complications after Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy:Surgeon, Hospital, or Patient?". J Am Coll Surg. 211 (1): 73–80. doi:10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2010.02.050. PMID20610252.
Murphy MM, Tseng JF, Shah SA (May 2010). "Disparities in Cancer Care: An Operative Perspective". Surgery. 147 (5): 733–7. doi:10.1016/j.surg.2009.10.050. PMID19962161.
Murphy MM, Witkowski ER, Ng SC, McDade TP, Hill JS, Larkin AC, Whalen GF, Litwin DE, Tseng JF (2010). "Trends in adrenalectomy: a recent national review". Surg Endosc. 24 (10): 2518–2526. doi:10.1007/s00464-010-0996-z. PMID20336320. S2CID2979551.
Nath B, Li YF, Carroll JE, Szabo G, Tseng JF, Shah SA. "Alcohol exposure as a risk factor for adverse outcomes in elective surgery. J Gastrointest Surg. 210 Nov;14(11)1732-41.
Singla A, Hart JL, Li Y, Tseng JF, Shah SA (2010). "Hospitalization for Complications of Cirrhosis: Does Volume Matter?". J Gastrointest Surg. 15 (2): 330–335. doi:10.1007/s11605-010-1398-1. PMID21108014. S2CID21450789.
Smith JK, Hill JS, Ng SC, McDade TP, Shah SA, Tseng JF (Nov 2010). "Potential benefit of resection for stage IV gastric cancer: A national survey". J Gastrointest Surg. 14 (11): 1660–8. doi:10.1007/s11605-010-1351-3. PMID20827576. S2CID1291778.
Smith JK, Ng SC, Hill JS, Simons JP, Arous EJ, Shah SA, Tseng JF, McDade TP (Sep 2010). "Complications after pancreatectomy for neuroendocrine tumors: A national study". J Surg Res. 163 (1): 63–8. doi:10.1016/j.jss.2010.04.017. PMID20599224.
Cooley EK, McPhee JT, Simons JP, Sweeney WB, Tseng JF, Alavi K. Colorectal neoplasia screening before age 50? "Current epidemiologic trends in the United States. Dis Colon Rectum 2009 Feb; 52(2):222-9.
Csikesz NG, Nguyen LN, Tseng JF, Shah SA (Jan 2009). "Nationwide Volume and Mortality After Elective Surgery in Cirrhotic Patients". J Am Coll Surg. 208 (1): 96–103. doi:10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2008.09.006. PMID19228510.
Hill JS, McPhee JT, Whalen GF, Sullivan ME, Warshaw AL, Tseng JF (Oct 2009). "In-Hospital Mortality after Pancreatic Resection for Chronic Pancreatitis: Population Based Estimates from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample". J Am Coll Surg. 209 (4): 468–76. doi:10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2009.05.030. PMID19801320.
Murphy MM, Shah SA, Simons JP, Csikesz NG, McDade TP, Bodnari A, Ng SC, Zhou Z, Tseng JF (Nov 2009). "Predicting Major Complications after Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy: A Simple Risk Score". Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery. 13 (11): 1929–1936. doi:10.1007/s11605-009-0979-3. PMID19672665. S2CID19466099.
Murphy MM, Simons JP, Ng SC, McDade TP, Smith JK, Shah SA, Zhou Z, Earle CC, Tseng JF (Nov 2009). "Racial Differences in Cancer Specialist Consultation, Treatment, and Outcomes for Locoregional Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma". Ann Surg Oncol. 16 (11): 2968–77. doi:10.1245/s10434-009-0656-5. PMID19669839. S2CID35362706.
Simons JP, Hill JS, Ng SC, Shah SA, Zhou Z, Whalen GF, Tseng JF (Dec 2009). "Perioperative Mortality for Management of Hepatic Neoplasm: A Simple Risk Score". Ann Surg. 250 (6): 929–934. doi:10.1097/sla.0b013e3181bc9c2f. PMID19855257. S2CID28334621.
Simons JP, Ng SC, Hill JS, Shah SA, Bodnari A, Zhou Z, Tseng JF (Sep 2009). "In-hospital mortality for liver resection for metastatic disease: a simple risk score". J Surg Res. 156 (1): 21–25. doi:10.1016/j.jss.2009.03.073. PMID19577250.
Simons JP, Ng SC, Shah SA, McDade TP, Whalen GF, Tseng JF (2009). "Malignant Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasm: Are We Doing the Right Thing?". Journal of Surgical Research. 167 (2): 251–257. doi:10.1016/j.jss.2009.05.035. PMID19765732.
Simons JP, Shah SA, Ng SC, Whalen GF, Tseng JF (Oct 2009). "National Complication Rates after Pancreatectomy: Beyond Mere Mortality". J Gastrointest Surg. 13 (10): 1798–805. doi:10.1007/s11605-009-0936-1. PMID19506975. S2CID31779087.
Csikesz N, Ricciardi R, Tseng JF, Shah SA (October 2008). "Current status of surgical management of acute cholecystitis in the United States". World J Surg. 32 (10): 2230–6. doi:10.1007/s00268-008-9679-5. PMID18668287. S2CID7956846.
Csikesz NG, Simons JP, Tseng JF, Shah SA (September 2008). "Surgical specialization and operative mortality in hepato-pancreatico-biliary (HPB) surgery". J. Gastrointest. Surg. 12 (9): 1534–9. doi:10.1007/s11605-008-0566-z. PMID18612710. S2CID557379.
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