NAPLES, Fla. – May 3, 2023 NCH has earned a distinguished three-star rating from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) for its patient care and outcomes in isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) procedures for the 12th year in a row. The three-star rating, which denotes the highest category of quality, places NCH among the elite for heart bypass surgery in the United States and Canada.
The STS star rating system is one of the most sophisticated and highly regarded overall measures of quality in health care, rating the bench marked outcomes of cardiothoracic surgery programs across the United States 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. Approximately 20% of participants receive the three-star rating for isolated CABG surgery.
“I am tremendously proud of our cardiac team for earning the top designation of three stars from STS for 12 years running. This achievement is a testament to the unwavering commitment to excellence in patient care and exceptional skills,” said Robert J. Cubeddu, President, NCH
Rooney Heart Institute. “Such accolades best reflect our team’s dedication and hard work in providing the utmost standard of cardiac care. I am honored to lead such a thriving team.”
“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.
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