Orlando Health’s heart care earns highest quality rating from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons

Orlando, FL (January 25, 2019) – Orlando Health earned an Overall 3 Star Rating from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons for providing excellent care to patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG) and aortic valve replacement with coronary artery bypass surgery (AVR+CABG). The current rating is the eighth consecutive 3 Star Rating for CABG, and the fifth consecutive 3 Star Rating for AVR+CABG.

The 3 Star Rating, the highest achievable, is based on STS Adult Cardiac Surgery Database participant outcomes. The most recent evaluation period is January 2018 through June 2018.

Historically, approximately 6 percent to 10 percent of participants receive the three-star rating for isolated CABG surgery; and approximately 4 percent to 7 percent of participants receive the three-star rating for AVR+CABG surgery.

“Our Heart Institute team remains committed to providing the best cardiovascular surgical care to our patients,” said Jeffrey Bott, MD, a cardiothoracic surgeon at the Orlando Health Heart & Vascular Institute.  For patients choosing our program, achieving the highest quality rating demonstrates our successes in cardiac surgery performance. For our staff, it is a privilege to be recognized by peers for the ongoing, day-to-day initiatives to deliver excellent outcomes.”

The Heart Institute’s success in cardiac surgery performance is the result of expertise, experience, collaboration, and a voluntary, self-run quality council. The council — comprised of surgeons, nurses, pharmacists, respiratory therapists, infection control specialists, risk managers, administrators, doctors and other team members — works diligently on various quality improvement initiatives and care reviews for each of our processes including pre-surgical preparation, surgical management, avoidance of complications and death and post-surgical medical management.

The composite measure for isolated CABG surgery consists of four quality domains over a twelve month period:

1. Absence of mortality (Deaths)
2. Absence of major morbidity (Complications)
3. Use of Internal Mammary Artery graft(s) (Arteries located in the chest and commonly used in bypass surgery because they have been shown to have the best long-term results.)
4. Receipt of required perioperative medications (Appropriate perioperative (before, during and after) medication usage.)

The composite measure for AVR+CABG consists of two quality domains: Absence of mortality, and Absence of major morbidity.

“The Society of Thoracic Surgeons congratulates STS National Database participants who have received three-star ratings,” said David M. Shahian, MD, Chair of the STS Council on Quality, Research, and Patient Safety. “Participation in the Database and public reporting demonstrates a commitment to quality improvement in health care delivery and provides 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 STS Adult Cardiac Surgery Database, a component of the STS National Database, includes more than 6 million surgical records, representing an estimated 90 percent of all adult cardiac surgery centers across the United States.

About Orlando Health 

Orlando Health is a $3.4 billion not-for-profit healthcare organization and a community-based network of hospitals, physician practices and outpatient care centers across Central Florida. The organization is home to the area’s only Level One Trauma Centers for adults and pediatrics, and is a statutory teaching hospital system that offers both specialty and community hospitals. More than 2,900 physicians have privileges across the system, which is also one of the area’s largest employers with more than 20,000 employees who serve more than 112,000 inpatients, more than 2.4 million outpatients, and more than 10,000 international patients each year.  Additionally, Orlando Health provides more than $450 million in total value to the community in the form of charity care, community benefit programs and services, community building activities and more. Additional information can be found at www.orlandohealth.com.

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