Bypass Surgery Outcomes, as well as Surgeon’s Significant Results, Noted in Report

The latest cardiac surgery “report card” issued by the New Jersey Department of Health has highlighted the outstanding cardiac surgery outcomes at Deborah Heart and Lung Center, with both the hospital and one of its cardiothoracic surgeons – Ronald Ross, M.D. – as having a risk-adjusted mortality rate “significantly lower . . . than the Statewide rate”.

The New Jersey Department of Health releases the cardiac surgery report card every two years, after analyzing data collected about coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) – or bypass surgery — outcomes from all 18 licensed cardiac surgery centers in the state. The report is designed to assist patients and families considering bypass surgery by providing statistical data on New Jersey’s cardiac surgery programs, as well as supplying answers to many questions patients might have.

In preparing the report card, the Department of Health synthesizes outcomes data for bypass surgery, and excludes those patients who had other complicating conditions. This allows for an even comparison of cardiac surgery programs from one hospital to another. All the data is risk-adjusted by the state to give “extra credit” to those hospitals and surgeons treating sicker patients.  Although the report has a time lag (the current data release is from 2017-18), the overall picture demonstrates that Deborah has earned its reputation as a cardiac center of excellence.

“Deborah has a robust cardiac surgery program, with a combined 1,000 CABG and other surgeries in the report’s time frame,” said Tara Hankins, Vice President of Surgery and Chief Perfusionist at Deborah.  “Not only does Deborah have high case volume, Deborah had the lowest risk-adjusted operative mortality rate in New Jersey. When you look at the charts in the report, they clearly illustrate the excellent quality outcomes of our cardiac surgery program.”

Hankins added: “These numbers reflect the high caliber of care offered at Deborah, including that provided by our skilled surgeons, led by our Chair of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Paul Burns, MD, and the outstanding preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative care provided by our exceptional nursing and dedicated hospital staff.”

“Although the data lags behind real-time, this report supports the superb quality in cardiac surgery that we provide today. This quality has been also validated by the Society for Thoracic Surgeons (STS) data, which places Deborah among the top programs nationally for quality in cardiac surgery as well.”

“We are so proud of each and every team member whose hard work has contributed to our outstanding showing on this state report card.  Most importantly, we are pleased that our patients can be further assured that when they choose Deborah, they choose a program with top-notch outcomes.”

Deborah Heart and Lung Center is New Jersey’s only specialty cardiac hospital and is an Alliance Member of the Cleveland Clinic Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute. Cleveland Clinic is ranked as one of the nation’s top hospitals by U.S. News & World Reports.

Click here to access the full report.

Click here for the mortality rate chart