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Ann Thorac Surg 2007;83:893-894
© 2007 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons

Editorial

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons General Thoracic Surgery Database

Cameron D. Wright, MD*, Fred H. Edwards, MD

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons General Thoracic Surgery Database Task Force, The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Workforce on National Databases

* Address correspondence to Dr Wright, Massachusetts General Hospital, Thoracic Surgery, Blake 1570, 55 Fruit St, Boston, MA 02114 (Email: wright.cameron@mgh.harvard.edu).

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.


   Introduction
 
The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) Adult Cardiac Surgery Database has been a major success story for The STS, the participating surgeons, and our patients. This is now a robust database that is risk-adjusted and nationally renowned. As a result, the STS database is acknowledged by other specialties, government and consumer groups, and third party payors as the gold standard clinical data analysis registry. Data from the Adult Cardiac Database has allowed the joint STS/American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) Workforce on Nomenclature and Coding to present actual data to the Relative Value Unit Update Committee (RUC) on cardiac operations to allow accurate valuation of previously undervalued Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes. Previous RUC methodology involved a small survey in which solicited physicians estimated the work involved in a specific CPT code by educated guessing. The new methodology, based on real data from the STS database included information such as preoperative risk factors, operating room time, intensive care unit stay, and days in hospital. Because of this improved data, the RUC recommended substantial increases in the relative value units of adult cardiac codes, which should lead to reimbursement that more accurately represents the intensity and complexity of the work that we do on behalf of our patients.

The much smaller community of general thoracic surgeons needs to garner the same advantages that the Adult Cardiac Database provides. Momentum . . . [Full Text of this Article]




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