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NQF releases standards on cardiac surgery quality

Quality Improvement Monitor, February 10, 2005

The National Quality Forum (NQF) announced on February 8 the publication of a new set of national consensus standards on cardiac surgery.

he National Voluntary Consensus Standards for Cardiac Surgery provide a standardized set of measures and framework for improving the quality of cardiac surgery, which accounts for nearly 14,000 in-hospital deaths each year, the NQF said. The executive summary of the report, with a list of endorsed performance measures, can be found at www.qualityforum.org.

The report details quality standards endorsed by more than 250 NQF member organizations through its formal consensus development process. As such, the measures have special legal standing as voluntary consensus standards.

The set includes 21 hospital-level measures that facilitate efforts to achieve higher levels of patient safety and better outcomes for patients. These measures are intended for public reporting.

"Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, and certain cardiac surgical procedures are among the most common surgeries performed in U.S. hospitals," said Kenneth W. Kizer, MD, MPH, president and chief executive officer of the NQF. "Improving the outcomes of these procedures would have major public health benefit."

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