ATLANTA – Emory Saint Joseph's Hospital has earned a distinguished three-star rating from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC) for its patient care and outcomes in transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). The three-star rating, which denotes the highest category of quality, places the hospital among the elite for the TAVR procedure in the United States and Canada.
The hospital is among a small number of institutions throughout the country to receive the recognition.
"This three-star rating affirms Emory Saint Joseph's Hospital as a leader in quality for the TAVR procedure, which is increasingly becoming a top choice method to treat valve dysfunction in a minimally-invasive way, leading to faster recoveries and better outcomes for our patients," says George Hanzel, MD, an interventional cardiologist and director of the cardiac catheterization lab at the hospital and associate professor of medicine, Emory University School of Medicine.
During a TAVR procedure, a doctor uses a catheter inserted into a patient's blood vessel to deliver a prosthetic heart valve, replacing the patient’s impaired valve.
The STS/ACC TVT Registry, created through a collaboration between STS and the ACC, monitors patient safety and real-world outcomes related to transcatheter valve replacement and repair procedures – emerging treatments for valve disease patients.
"Our commitment to patient quality has resulted in excellent TAVR outcomes and is demonstrated in this three-star rating from STS/ACC," says Jeffrey S. Miller, MD, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital and assistant professor of surgery in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Emory University School of Medicine.
In its most recent analysis, less than eight% of participating hospitals received the three-star rating for TAVR composite. The latest analysis of data covers a three-year period, from Oct. 1, 2017 to Sept. 30, 2020.
The STS/ACC TVT-R star rating system is one of the most sophisticated and highly regarded overall measures of quality in health care, rating the benchmarked outcomes of TAVR programs in the United States. The star rating is calculated using a combination of quality measures for TAVR procedure performed by an STS/ACC TVT Registry participant.
"The TAVR program at Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital is truly a model for the collaboration needed between teams of providers that lead to excellent patient outcomes and quality," says Steven Macheers, MD, a cardiothoracic surgeon at Emory Saint Joseph’s Hospital and assistant professor of surgery in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Emory University School of Medicine.