SAGES guidelines for the management of hiatal hernia

Excerpt

Among the principles of current health care reform is to promote better value. Although “value” is not a term most of us are used to including in our everyday clinical practices, its components—quality and cost—are. Achieving higher quality at lower cost is a win–win circumstance that few would not embrace if given the opportunity. Although much has been written about the relative quality of our much-maligned health care system, the truth is, it is actually already high. That being said, it is also clear that there is much room for improvement by raising clinical quality across the spectrum of health care settings and lowering costs whenever possible. Guidelines can help make this possible. They are not meant as rigid dictates to be applied to every patient. Good clinical care is much too nuanced for that. Rather, guidelines provide a blueprint upon which to start and standards to reduce variability. It is in the former that quality can be improved, and the latter that provides an opportunity for cost reduction. …