title: Quality improvement in cardiac care.
abstract: Quality improvement in cardiac care has made considerable progress over the past 30 years. During that period, there has been the development of multi-institutional databases to monitor outcomes following cardiothoracic surgery. These databases initially began using only volume and unadjusted operative (30-day) mortality as outcome criteria. There has been a progressive increase in their sophistication, with the building of risk models based on preoperative variables, which accurately predict the risk of adverse outcomes. Other outcomes have been added including risk-adjusted mortality and morbidity; efficiency outcomes such as length of stay, quality of life, functional health status, neuropsychological outcomes; and long-term outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Campus Box 305, University of Colorado Health Science Center, 4200 E Ninth Ave, Room 5622, Denver, CO 80262, USA. Frederick.Grover@uchsc.edu
authors.forename: Frederick L
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Grover
authors.forename: Joseph C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Cleveland
authors.forename: Laurie W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Shroyer
mesh_terms: D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000592:standards*; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000401:mortality; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D019918:Heart Valve Prosthesis Implantation / Q000401:mortality; D006787:Hospitals, Veterans / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000401:mortality; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013503:Surgery Department, Hospital / Q000592:standards; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs