Quality Measurement for Mohs' Surgery

How does a patient assess the quality of the Mohs service they are being offered?

Results are generally not available to the public or their medical advisors in any field of medicine.  Dr Smith is committed to publishing data on his Mohs service to help an assessment of value to be made.  In his opinion the following form an index to judge the quality of any Mohs service: 

1. Is the physician a member of the America College of Mohs Micrographic Surgery?  

This college was founded by Dr Mohs and is internationally regarded as the gold standard in training for Mohs sugery.  Pooled data on the treatment of facial basal cell carcinomas by college members using Mohs show cure rates over 5 years:  99% for new cancers and 96% for recurrent cancers.  Published data for standard wide local excision of similar cancers yields significantly lower cure rates while not conserving normal tissue in the same manner as Mohs.

Dr Smith has been a college member since 2001

2.  Number of cases carried out in total and average number per year.

In any field of medicine a direct link exists between outcome / complications and the number of times the doctor has carried out that procedure.

Dr Smith has carried out approximately 1500 Mohs cases to date and averages around 250 per year.

3.  Does the Mohs physician collect data on patient satisfaction and openly publish that data?

Dr Smith uses a questionnaire sent to patients 3 months after surgery. This assesses multiple outcomes including overall satisfaction and scar appearance. The results are freely available to all (Patient Satisfaction Survey).  He is happy to discuss any aspect of these results with patients or referring physicians.