What is an SPEQ?

SPEQ stands for Surgical Practice Evaluation and Quality. SPEQs are measurable quality metrics within Theator that track the adoption of evidence-based surgical best practices across your cases and department.

How SPEQs Work

Each SPEQ represents a specific surgical best practice that has been identified through clinical evidence as contributing to better patient outcomes. Theator's AI analyzes your surgical recordings and automatically evaluates whether each applicable SPEQ was met during a procedure.

For example, a SPEQ might track whether a critical safety step was performed, whether a specific anatomical landmark was identified, or whether a recommended technique was used during a particular phase of surgery.

Where You Will See SPEQs

SPEQs appear throughout the Theator platform:

• Case Page -- On individual case pages, you can see which SPEQs were evaluated for that procedure and whether they were met. This gives you immediate feedback on best practice adherence for each case.
• Analytics -- In the analytics section, SPEQs are aggregated across multiple cases to show trends and patterns in your surgical practice over time.
• Quality Initiatives -- SPEQs are the building blocks of Quality Initiatives, where departments track collective progress toward specific quality improvement goals.

Why SPEQs Matter

SPEQs provide an objective, data-driven way to evaluate surgical quality. Rather than relying solely on subjective assessment, SPEQs give surgeons and departments concrete metrics to:

• Identify strengths in their surgical technique and workflow.
• Spot areas for improvement where best practices may not be consistently followed.
• Track progress over time as new techniques or protocols are adopted.
• Support quality improvement programs with measurable outcomes.

Understanding SPEQ Results

When reviewing a case, each SPEQ will show one of the following statuses:

• Met -- The best practice was successfully identified in the procedure.
• Not Met -- The best practice was not detected during the procedure.
• Not Applicable -- The SPEQ does not apply to this particular case or procedure type.

By regularly reviewing your SPEQ results, you can build a clear picture of your surgical practice and make informed decisions about where to focus your quality improvement efforts.

Related Articles

• Manage Quality Initiatives — Track quality improvement goals using SPEQs
• Exploring Best Practices and the Catalog — Browse the best practices library
• Case page Overview — See how SPEQs appear on the case page