The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Supports Public Reporting of Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery Outcomes

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 26, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia supports the accomplishments of the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4), which today released a-first-of-its-kind report on pediatric and congenital heart surgery. The project began when surgeons from each of the five participating institutions approached PHC4 with the concept of a collaboration of surgeons, hospitals, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) and PHC4 to begin public reporting of outcomes for congenital heart surgery. This report represents one of the few efforts at statewide public reporting on pediatric cardiac surgery outcomes.

The report is based on data provided to the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) National Congenital Heart Surgery Database by five participating hospitals, including CHOP, and provides information for specific, commonly performed operations. Use of data from clinical registries such as the STS Database has been shown to provide a more accurate depiction of outcomes than do reports based on other data sources.

"This is an important initiative for patients, their families and their physicians," said J. William Gaynor, M.D., a cardiothoracic surgeon at CHOP. "This report will provide families with a useful tool to help them determine the treatment options for their child."

"However, it is important to recognize that this is only a first step," Gaynor added. "The results presented in this report have not been adjusted for patient factors including premature birth and other anomalies which increase the risk of a procedure. Thus, if a hospital cares for very sick and complicated patients, the mortality may be higher than for an institution which cares for less complex patients who receive the same operation. A goal of future PHC4 reports will be to use methods to attempt to account for these patient factors; and thus provide a more complete and accurate picture of performance."

"Every child deserves the highest quality care available and I applaud the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons for collaborating with hospitals and surgeons in Pennsylvania and Delaware on this effort," added Gaynor.

Affecting nearly one out of every 120 infants born in the U.S., congenital heart defects are the most common birth defect and the leading cause of deaths related to birth defects. The report, released in conjunction with American Heart Month, shows hospital-specific volume and in-hospital mortality results for the five hospitals—four in Pennsylvania and one in Delaware—that volunteered to have their data publicly reported. The data reported was provided to PHC4 by the Society of Thoracic surgeons and covers the four-year period 2009-2012, the most recent data available to PHC4.

The report provides the public with volume and in-hospital mortality data on nine widely performed heart surgeries in order to help patients and families make important treatment decisions. Nationally, mortality rates for these nine procedures vary widely, from less than one percent for repair of a ventricular septal defect to more than 16 percent for the Norwood procedure, the first operation in a series of three used to treat a severe congenital defect in which the left side of the heart is underdeveloped.

In addition to data on the nine benchmark procedures, the report shows the total number of operations performed by each hospital—information that can be helpful in understanding a hospital's overall experience with pediatric and congenital heart surgery. There were 6,313 pediatric and congenital heart surgeries performed in the five hospitals (four in Pennsylvania and one in Delaware) during the years 2009 through 2012. The report also looks separately at outcomes for neonates – infants less than 31 days old.

About The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 535-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For more information, visit www.chop.edu.

Contact:
Joey McCool Ryan
(267) 426-6070
[email protected]

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150226/178159

SOURCE The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

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