Training to Become a High-Quality Endoscopist: Mastering the Nonprocedural Aspects

The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy has used published data and expert consensus to define the major determinants for high-quality endoscopy and have published these guidelines. These measures are increasingly utilized by third parties (hospitals, insurers, and regulatory agencies, lawyers) to assess if proper and careful consideration was performed by a physician. These measures can be broken down into three categories: preprocedure, intraprocedure, and postprocedure quality measures. Although each type of endoscopic procedure will have specific quality indicators, this chapter reviews the common principles. It is the responsibility of the endoscopist to inform the referring provider of the results of the procedure. If pathology is sent or further imaging is ordered, a clear plan outlining responsibility to follow these results must be provided in correspondence to the patient and referring provider.