Erlanger Heart and Lung has earned a three-star rating from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons for its patient care and outcomes in isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) procedures.
Officials said, "The three-star rating, which denotes the highest category of quality, places Erlanger among the elite for heart bypass surgery in the United States and Canada.
"According to STS, the star rating system is one of the most sophisticated and highly regarded overall measures of quality in healthcare, rating the benchmarked 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 percent of participants receive the three-star rating for isolated CABG surgery."
“Cardiac surgery is the epitome of a team sport,” said Larry Shears, MD, chief of Erlanger’s cardiothoracic surgery program. “Excellent surgical outcomes are completely dependent on the synergy between surgeons, cardiologists, cardiac anesthesiologists, ICU and step-down unit nursing care, and our operating room personnel. Any weak areas will adversely affect outcomes. Our recent three-star rating at Erlanger by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons shows that our blocking and tackling is strong.”
Officials said, "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, the Congenital Heart Surgery Database, the General Thoracic Surgery Database, 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 percent 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."
“Dr. Shears said, “A three-star rating by the society places our program in the top 5 percent of all cardiac surgery programs in the country. Our team is sincerely appreciative of the support that we have received from our administration at Erlanger as well as the board of directors. Their unwavering support of our efforts has made it possible for our team to deliver the highest level of care to a very complex patient population in the Chattanooga region.”