Yale New Haven Hospital receives highest ranking from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons

YNHH Cardiac Surgery received one of the highest ratings in the United States

New Haven, CT—February 8, 2018—Yale New Haven Hospital’s (YNHH) Heart and Vascular Center has received the highest Composite Quality Rating in four procedure categories by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) National Database.

YNHH received the distinguished three-star rating from the STS for isolated aortic valve replacement (AVR); combined AVR and coronary artery bypass graft (CABG); mitral valve repair and replacement (MVRR); and combined MVRR and CABG. The first two procedures are listed on the STS Publicly Reported initiative for patient care and outcomes.

YNHH is one of the few cardiac surgery programs in the U.S. to receive this recognition of multiple three-star ratings. Fewer than 10 from over 1,000 participating STS centers received similar composite ratings. STS ratings come out twice annually.

“This is a tremendous honor and recognition for the Heart and Vascular Center here at Yale New Haven,” said Arnar Geirsson, MD, chief, Cardiac Surgery at Yale New Haven Hospital and associate professor of surgery-cardiac surgery at Yale School of Medicine. “ To be nationally recognized with three-star ratings in four of five procedure categories clearly demonstrates a level of care that places YNHH among the elite cardiac surgery programs in the United States.”

The STS star rating system is one of the most sophisticated and highly regarded overall measures of quality in health care, rating the benchmarked outcomes of cardiothoracic surgery programs in 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. Historically, approximately 5%–7% of participants receive the three-star rating for AVR+CABG surgery; approximately 6%–8% of participants receive that rating for isolated AVR surgery.

“This is a testament to the excellent quality and outcomes of cardiac surgery performed at Yale New Haven Hospital Heart and Vascular Center which continues to provide cutting-edge procedures and treatment for patients with advanced heart disease,” says Geirsson “The highest three-star ratings from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons National Database confirms the outstanding care and excellent outcomes that patients experience when they undergo open heart surgery at Yale New Haven Hospital,” continued Dr. Geirsson.

“Our team of cardiac surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, administrators and support staff have worked hard over the last few years to set up a reliable system focusing on patient safety and outcomes. There are only handful, of over 1,000, hospitals in the U.S. than received similar quality ratings. The rating is particularly high in the most complex categories such as aortic valve and mitral valve surgery, which serves as a testament of the eminent role that Yale cardiac surgery and the Heart and Vascular Center play both locally and nationally in the field of heart surgery.”

YNHH is the only cardiac center in Connecticut to be so highly ranked.

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons is a medical specialty professional society in the field of cardiothoracic surgery. The STS National Database was established in 1989 as an initiative for quality improvement and patient safety among cardiothoracic surgeons. The Database has three components—Adult Cardiac Surgery Database, General Thoracic Surgery Database , and Congenital Heart Surgery Database. The STS National Database has grown to be the largest database of its kind in medicine and is one of the pioneers in the analysis and reporting of risk-adjusted outcomes in cardiothoracic surgery.