Background: The Northern New England Cardiovascular Disease Study Group (NNECDSG) was founded in 1987 as a regional consortium to improve cardiovascular quality in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. We sought to assess the longitudinal impact of the NNECDSG on quality and cost of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) during the past 30 years.

Methods: Patients undergoing isolated CABG at 5 medical centers from 1987-2017 were retrospectively reviewed (n = 67,942). They were divided into 4 time periods: 1987-1999 (n = 36,885), 2000-2005 (n = 14,606), 2006-2011(n = 8470), and 2012-2017 (n = 7981). The first period was the time the NNECDSG initiated a series of quality improvement initiatives including data feedback, quality improvement training, process mapping, and site visits.

Results: Throughout the 4 time intervals, there was a consistent decline in in-hospital mortality, from 3.4% to 1.8% despite an increase in predicted risk of mortality (P < .001), and a significant decline in in-hospital morbidity, including return to the operating room for bleeding, acute kidney injury, mediastinitis, and low output failure (P < .001). Median length of stay decreased from 7 to 5 days (P < .001), which translated into potential savings of $82,722,023. There was a decrease in use of red blood cells from 3.1 units to 2.6 units per patient in the most current time, which translated into potential savings of $1,985,456.

Conclusions: By using collaborative quality improvement initiatives, the NNECDSG has succeeded in significant, sustained improvements in quality and cost for CABG during the past 30 years. These data support the utility of a regional consortium in improving quality.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.athoracsur.2019.10.008DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

quality improvement
16
regional consortium
12
quality
8
quality cost
8
improvement initiatives
8
decline in-hospital
8
translated potential
8
potential savings
8
30-year influence
4
influence regional
4

Similar Publications

Background: Unplanned readmission, a measure of surgical quality, occurs after 4.8% of primary total knee arthroplasties (TKA). Although the prediction of individualized readmission risk may inform appropriate preoperative interventions, current predictive models, such as the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS-NSQIP) surgical risk calculator (SRC), have limited utility.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: In 2018, a nationwide survey carried out in 387 acute care hospitals from 16 out of 21 Italian regions, allowed defining an extended checklist for the participatory evaluation of person-centredness in hospital care. We aimed to validate a reduced set of core items for continuous use across the country.

Methods: Factor analysis was used to validate the construct of the checklist.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Health service policies are evolving into qualified health care providing best possible outcomes as well as focused on patient satisfaction. Hence the qualification valued health care includes patient satisfaction measurements, it is suggested to get feedbacks during the assessment of outcomes from the patient's perspective. Aging of the world population accelerates demand on rehabilitation medicine which means recovering impairments so is directly related with quality of life.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Artificial intelligence has gradually been used into various fields of medical education at present. Under the background of moxibustion robot teaching assistance, the study aims to explore the relationship and the internal mechanism between learning engagement and evaluation in three stages, preparation before class, participation in class, and consolidation after class.

Methods: Based on the data investigated in 250 youths in university via multistage cluster sampling following the self-administered questionnaire, structural equation model was built to discussing factors of study process about moxibustion robots.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Time-dependent, patient-centered perceptions of quality measures for total joint arthroplasty: a cross-sectional, choice modeling study.

BMC Musculoskelet Disord

January 2025

VOICES Health Policy Research Center, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Stanford University, 450 Broadway Street MC: 6342, Redwood City, CA, 94603, USA.

Background: As value-based care arrangements continue to assess quality of care and costs, comprehensive and patient-centered definitions of quality of care are required. While patient-reported outcome measures are increasingly integrated into quality assessments following total joint arthroplasty (TJA), patient perceptions of quality paired with the phase of surgical care has not been described. The purpose of this study was to assess how TJA patients perceive measures of quality of care and assess if these perceptions change based on the phase of care.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!