WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center has earned its third consecutive three-star rating from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) for its patient care and outcomes in isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) procedures. Camden Clark Medical Center is the only area hospital to receive the prestigious STS three-star rating, which denotes the highest category of quality, and places Camden Clark among the elite for heart bypass surgery in the United States and Canada.
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 across 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.
“We’re thrilled to receive a third consecutive, national three-star rating from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons,” said Geoffrey R. Cousins, MD, FACS, who leads the cardiothoracic surgery program at Camden Clark. “This prestigious award is a testament to our unwavering commitment to providing the safest, highest quality care to our communities. This recognition also affirms that you can receive some of the most advanced and nationally recognized cardiac care close to home, right here in the Mid-Ohio Valley.”
Approximately 20% of participants receive the three-star rating for isolated CABG surgery. The latest analysis of data for CABG surgery covers a 3-year period, from July 2019 to June 2022, and includes 1,000 participants.
“We are so proud of the team of physicians and staff in our cardiac program. Specifically, our cardiovascular surgery team, led by Dr. Cousins, has achieved admirable clinical outcomes and contributed to the excellence in care provided to the Mid-Ohio Valley,” said Steve Altmiller, Camden Clark Medical Center President and CEO. “Our integrated approach to patient care continues to be successful as evidenced by our national ranking.”
In addition to the STS three-star rating, Camden Clark Medical Center recently received national quality awards for cardiac care from U.S. News and World Report, Healthgrades and CareChex.
“The Society of Thoracic Surgeons congratulates STS National Database participants who have received three-star ratings,” said David M. Shahian, MD, chair of the Task Force on Quality Measurement. “Participation in the Database and public reporting demonstrates a commitment to quality improvement in health care delivery and helps provide patients and their families with meaningful information to help them make informed decisions about health care.”
The STS National Database was established in 1989 as an initiative for quality improvement and patient safety among cardiothoracic surgeons. The Database includes four components: the Adult Cardiac Surgery Database (ACSD), the Congenital Heart Surgery Database (CHSD), the General Thoracic Surgery Database (GTSD), and the mechanical circulatory support database (Intermacs). The STS ACSD houses approximately 6.9 million surgical records and gathers information from more than 3,800 participating physicians, including surgeons and anesthesiologists from more than 90% of groups that perform heart surgery in the US. STS public reporting online enables STS ACSD participants to voluntarily report to each other and the public their heart surgery scores and star ratings.