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Rescue Improvement Conference: A Novel Tool for Addressing Failure to Rescue. OBJECTIVE: To understand the effectiveness of Rescue Improvement Conference, a forum that addresses failure to rescue (FTR). SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: Every year over 150,000 patients die after elective surgery in the United States. FTR is the phenomenon whereby delayed recognition and/or response to serious surgical complications leads to a progressive cascade of adverse events culminating in death. Rescue Improvement Conference is an adapted version of the Ottawa-style M&M conference, designed to address common contributors to FTR: ineffective communication and inadequate problem solving. METHODS: Mixed methods data were used to evaluate Rescue Improvement Conference, a bi- monthly forum that was first introduced in our academic medical center in 2018. Conference effectiveness data were collected via survey and open-text responses after five conferences between September 2018 and February 2020. We focused on five indicators of effectiveness: educational value, conference takeaways, discussion time, changes to surgical practice, and actionable opportunities for improvement. Twelve surgical faculty and house staff also provided feedback during semi- structured interviews. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Conference attendees (N = 140) felt that Rescue Improvement Conference was effective-all five indicators had mean scores above five on Likert scales. The qualitative data supports the quantitative findings, and three additional themes emerged: Rescue Improvement Conference enables the representation of diverse voices, promotes interdisciplinary collaboration, and encourages multilevel problem solving. CONCLUSIONS: Rescue Improvement Conference has the potential to support other surgical departments in developing system-level strategies to recognize and manage postoperative complications by providing stakeholders a forum to identify and discuss factors that contribute to FTR.