title: A data-driven approach to improving clinical outcomes in cardiac care.
abstract: The performance improvement department at The Queen's Medical Center (QMC) in Honolulu, has been monitoring the outcomes of cardiovascular interventional procedures and cardiothoracic surgical procedures. By using an institution-wide database as well as participating in national cardiac databases, a set of clinical indicators is tracked, and quarterly reports are provided to the cardiovascular medicine (CV) and thoracic and cardiovascular surgery (TCV) services. After reviewing the data, a combined CV/TCV/anesthesia morbidity and mortality committee meets monthly to further evaluate the data, review cases, and formulate action plans based upon the findings. Using these tools and methods, we have seen a marked improvement in clinical outcomes among cardiac patients.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Burden
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Taft
mesh_terms: D013504:Cardiovascular Surgical Procedures / Q000592:standards*; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006254:Hawaii; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D009017:Morbidity; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods*; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care; D012985:Software Design; D013503:Surgery Department, Hospital / Q000592:standards*; D017749:Total Quality Management