ACC-CMS Program Provides Public Access to Hospital Quality Information on PCI

July 18, 2013—The American College of Cardiology (ACC) announced that information from the ACC national database of hospital records on stenting and angioplasty is now available to consumers. ACC stated that a new measure—which reflects how often patients were readmitted to any hospital within 30 days after having a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) procedure—will be available on the Centers on Medicare and Medicaid Services' Hospital Compare website, www.medicare.gov/hospitalcompare, in an easy-to-read, searchable format. More information on the PCI readmission measure and heart-wise health care tips that patients can follow to help avoid a return to the hospital can be found on the ACC Web site at www.cardiosmart.org/myhospital.

According to ACC, the new measure uses similar methodology to other readmission measures that are publicly reported on Hospital Compare. However, this measure is unique in its use of clinical information from the ACC's National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR) to evaluate the health of each hospital's patient population for risk adjustment. The new measure was developed through a partnership with Yale New Haven Health Services Corporation—Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (New Haven, CT) and CMS.

ACC advised that this is a pilot voluntary public reporting program. More than 300 hospitals participating in the ACC's NCDR CathPCI Registry have elected to report their measure results voluntarily and publicly on Hospital Compare.

Gregory J. Dehmer, MD, FACC, Chair of the ACC Public Reporting Advisory Group, commented on the program in the ACC announcement. Dr. Dehmer stated, “Participating in this registry and in public reporting of readmissions data shows a significant commitment on the part of the hospitals to transparency and quality. Readmissions are both costly to a health care system and burdensome to the patient and their family.”




ACC noted that in appropriate patients, PCI can improve quality of life and survival; however, one in seven patients who undergoes PCI is readmitted to the hospital in the month after the procedure. Unplanned readmissions may reflect the quality of care that hospitals provide to patients during their hospital stay. The PCI readmission measure compares hospitals to the NCDR CathPCI Registry readmission rate based on unplanned readmissions occurring within 30 days of discharge after the PCI procedure.

Each hospital is then assigned to one of three categories: (1) better than NCDR CathPCI Registry rate; (2) no different than CathPCI Registry rate; (3) worse than CathPCI Registry rate.
 Results are based on a measurement period from January 1, 2010, through November 30, 2011. The overall NCDR CathPCI Registry readmission rate was 11.9%, stated the ACC.

In the press release, ACC President John G. Harold, MD, commented, “This measure is extremely valuable for patients in that they are, for the first time, getting easy access to information on how their local hospital is performing in terms of readmissions after these procedures. Each hospital that has opted to publicly report this information should be commended for their commitment to making sure all patients receive the best possible care.”