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Ann Thorac Surg 2007;83:S1-S2
© 2007 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons

Quality Measurement in Adult Cardiac Surgery: Introduction

^a Chair, The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Quality Measurement Task Force, Chicago, Illinois
^b President (2006–2007), The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, Chicago, Illinois
^c Chair, The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Council on Quality, Research and Patient Safety, Chicago, Illinois
^d Chair, The Society of Thoracic Surgeons Workforce on National Databases, Chicago, Illinois

Accepted for publication January 12, 2007.

^_* Address correspondence to Dr Shahian, The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, 633 N Saint Clair St, Suite 2320, Chicago, IL 60611 (Email: shahian@comcast.net).

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

Cardiothoracic surgery has a long and distinguished history of critical self-examination to improve the quality of patient care. Twenty years ago our profession was challenged by an unprecedented call for accountability. Recognizing our responsibility to our patients and our profession, The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) embarked on one of the most extensive clinical data collection initiatives in the entire field of medicine, the development of the STS National Adult Cardiac Surgery Database. This database is now among the largest and most respected clinical data registries in the world, and studies based on it have substantially advanced patient care, research, and quality initiatives. Because of the early development and continuing evolution of this outstanding database, it has become the national gold standard for cardiothoracic surgery and has established clearly defined benchmarks for clinical comparisons. Such information has become the cornerstone of quality assessment in cardiothoracic surgery.

Our profession is now at a similar critical juncture as it was 20 years ago. Once again we are faced with a call for greater accountability, but now this attention is directed to the entire medical profession, . . . [Full Text of this Article]