The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Congenital Heart Surgery Database Public Reporting Initiative

Abstract

Three basic principles provide the rationale for the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) Congenital Heart Surgery Database (CHSD) public reporting initiative: (1) Variation in congenital and pediatric cardiac surgical outcomes exist. (2) Patients and their families have the right to know the outcomes of the treatments that they will receive. (3). It is our professional responsibility to share this information with them in a format they can understand. The STS CHSD public reporting initiative facilitates the voluntary transparent public reporting of congenital and pediatric cardiac surgical outcomes using the STS CHSD Mortality Risk Model. The STS CHSD Mortality Risk Model is used to calculate risk-adjusted operative mortality and adjusts for the following variables: age, primary procedure, weight (neonates and infants), prior cardiothoracic operations, non-cardiac congenital anatomic abnormalities, chromosomal abnormalities or syndromes, prematurity (neonates and infants), and preoperative factors (including preoperative/preprocedural mechanical circulatory support [intraaortic balloon pump, ventricular assist device, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or cardiopulmonary support], shock [persistent at time of surgery], mechanical ventilation to treat cardiorespiratory failure, renal failure requiring dialysis and/or renal dysfunction, preoperative neurological deficit, and other preoperative factors). Operative mortality is defined in all STS databases as (1) all deaths, regardless of cause, occurring during the hospitalization in which the operation was performed, even if after 30 days (including patients transferred to other acute care facilities); and (2) all deaths, regardless of cause, occurring after discharge from the hospital, but before the end of the 30^th postoperative day. The STS CHSD Mortality Risk Model has good model fit and discrimination with an overall C statistics of 0.875 and 0.858 in the development sample and the validation sample, respectively. These C statistics are the highest C statistics ever seen in a pediatric cardiac surgical risk model. Therefore, the STS CHSD Mortality Risk Model provides excellent adjustment for case mix and should mitigate against risk aversive behavior. The STS CHSD Mortality Risk Model is the best available model to date for measuring outcomes after pediatric cardiac surgery. As of March 2016, 60% of participants in STS CHSD have agreed to publicly report their outcomes through the STS Public Reporting Online website (http://www.sts.org/quality-research-patient-safety/sts-public-reporting-online). Although several opportunities exist to improve our risk models, the current STS CHSD public reporting initiative provides the tools to report publicly, and with meaning and accuracy, the outcomes of congenital and pediatric cardiac surgery.