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Medical Center’s cardiothoracic surgery nets honor

Published on Monday, June 5, 2023

Medical Center faculty and staff often are recognized regionally, nationally and internationally for their academic or medical achievements. These accolades place UMMC among health science centers worldwide.

UMMC awarded two-star rating in Society of Thoracic Surgeons patient care categories

The University of Mississippi Medical Center has been awarded a two-star rating from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons for its patient care and outcomes in aortic valve replacement and stand-alone coronary artery bypass grafting.

Thoracic_Surgeon_logoThe STS star rating system is one of the most sophisticated and highly regarded overall measures of quality in health care. It rates the benchmarked outcomes of cardiothoracic surgery programs in the United States and Canada. Star ratings are calculated using a combination of quality measures for specific procedures performed by an STS adult cardiac surgery database participant.

UMMC offers comprehensive care for heart disease through University Heart and surgical treatment of diseases, conditions and other problems of the heart, cardiovascular system, lungs, esophagus, mediastinum and chest wall through Cardiothoracic Surgery.

“UMMC is the only full-service heart surgery program in the state, offering the full complement of surgical options to treat the most complex patients with valvular disease, heart failure, aortic pathologies and coronary artery disease, all with state-of-the-art technology and outstanding outcomes,” said Dr. Adam Protos, assistant professor and division chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery.

Historically, approximately 4-7 percent of STS database participants receive a three-star rating, the highest, for aortic valve replacement and coronary artery bypass grafting surgery. The latest analysis of data for those procedures covers a three-year period, the STS says.

A program’s star rating is often referred to by patients, referring physicians and government bodies when formulating or implementing policy changes. 

“The ability to take our cardiothoracic surgery program back up to a two-star rating in such a short period of time is a testament to the hard work, dedication and excellent surgical outcomes provided by Dr. Adam Protos, Dr. Ashok Kumar Coimbatore Jeyakumar, Dr. Athanasios Tsiouris and their team,” said Dr. Mike McMullan, professor of medicine and director of the Division of Cardiology. 

“Participation in the database and public reporting demonstrates a commitment to quality improvement in health care delivery and provides patients and their families with meaningful information to help them make informed decisions about health care,” Dr. David M. Shahian, MD, chair of the STS Task Force on Quality Measurement, said in a news release.

STS is a nonprofit representing more than 7,300 surgeons, researchers and allied health care professionals worldwide who are dedicated to ensuring the best possible outcomes for surgeries of the heart, lung, and esophagus, as well as other surgical procedures within the chest.

The STS database is an initiative for quality improvement and patient safety among cardiothoracic surgeons. It includes three components: adult cardiac surgery, congenital heart surgery and general thoracic surgery, in addition to aortic valve replacement. Cardiothoracic surgeons or groups of surgeons taking part in the STS database agree to submit case records for analysis and comparison with benchmarking data collected by STS for quality improvement initiatives.

The STS database includes about 6.9 million surgical records and information from more than 3,800 participating physicians, including surgeons and anesthesiologists from more than 90 percent of hospitals that perform heart surgery in the United States.