Among Only 3 Percent of Programs to Attain Three-Star Designation
The Lifespan Cardiovascular Institute (LCVI) announced that it has earned a three-star rating from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) for its patient care and outcomes in isolated mitral valve replacement and repair (MVRR) surgery. The three-star rating, the highest STS quality rating, places The LCVI among the elite for MVRR surgery in the US and Canada. Additionally, The LCVI ranked in the 90th percentile for operative mortality in aortic valve repair (AVR), MVR, mitral valve (MV) repair and AVR/coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG).
The STS star rating system is one of the most sophisticated and highly regarded overall measures of quality in health care, rating the benchmarked outcomes of cardiothoracic surgery programs in the US and Canada. The star rating is calculated using a combination of quality measures for specific procedures performed by an STS Adult Cardiac Surgery Database participant. In New England, there are only three publicly reported MVRR 3-star programs, one of which is RI’s LCVI and two in CT.
“Taking care of patients’ cardiovascular disease is a team sport that involves a wide multitude of practitioners working alongside each other collaboratively. At The Lifespan Cardiovascular Institute, we have all these pieces of the puzzle performing at a very high level to give patients the excellent care they need, and that translates to the excellent quality results we have had,” said Afshin Ehsan, MD, director of minimally invasive cardiac surgery and director of quality at the LCVI.
The latest analysis of data for MVRR surgery covers a three-year period – from July, 2020 to June, 2023 and includes 130 patients.
“The Society of Thoracic Surgeons congratulates STS National Database participants who have received three-star ratings,” said David M. Shahian, MD, chair of the Task Force on Quality Measurement. “Participation in the Database and public reporting demonstrates a commitment to quality improvement in health care delivery and helps provide patients and their families with meaningful information to help them make informed decisions about health care.”
The STS National Database was established in 1989 as an initiative for quality improvement and patient safety among cardiothoracic surgeons. The Database includes four components: the Adult Cardiac Surgery Database (ACSD), the Congenital Heart Surgery Database (CHSD), the General Thoracic Surgery Database (GTSD), and the mechanical circulatory support database (Intermacs). The STS ACSD houses approximately 6.9 million surgical records and gathers information from more than 3,800 participating physicians, including surgeons and anesthesiologists from more than 90% of groups that perform heart surgery in the US. STS Public Reporting Online enables STS ACSD participants to voluntarily report to each other and the public their heart surgery scores and star ratings.