A data-driven approach to improving clinical outcomes in cardiac care.

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...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal for Healthcare Quality: Promoting Excellence in Healthcare Vol. 21; no. 2; pp. 32 - 37
Main Authors: Burden B, Taft E
Format: algorithm tables/charts Journal Article
Published: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 1999 Mar-Apr
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Description
Summary: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.