Consumers Union—the organization that publishes Consumer Reports— releases a report card each year identifying the top-performing cardiac surgery centers in the United States. Mid-Atlantic Surgical Associates has received Consumer Reports highest rating: “Better Than Expected”, June 2018.
The list, which is posted online and was last published in the June 2018 issue of Consumer Reports, is based on information gathered through the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Adult Cardiac Surgery Database, which collects clinical outcomes data from patients’ charts. Nearly 90% of the country’s 1,100 cardiac surgery programs voluntarily participate in the registry.
The report card assigns surgery centers a one-, two- or three-star rating after tabulating a physician group-level performance score based on 11 National Quality Forum-endorsed clinical measures, including:
* Postoperative renal failure;
* Surgical re-exploration;
* Beta-blockade at discharge; and
* Risk-adjusted operative mortality after coronary artery bypass graft surgery, among other measures.
In addition to a facility’s overall performance score, the report card also assigns star ratings and actual performance scores on a zero to 100 scale for four subcategories:
* 30-day survival;
* Complications;
* Proper medication administration; and
* Surgical technique.
Approximately 60% of the nation’s cardiac surgery centers have agreed to publicly release their outcomes data through the Consumers Union report.