Assessing clinical performance in cardiac surgery. Does a specialised clinical database make a difference?

We compared mortality rates league tables for six cardiac surgery centres developed using an administrative database (integrated with information on patients' EuroSCORE) with those drawn from a specialised clinical database. Data from 4017 patients undergoing cardiac surgery over the period January 1st-December 31st 2003, and identified both databases were used. Case mix adjusted in-hospital mortality rates were estimated relying on information provided by each database, and league tables were drawn from both.