More than 100 cardiothoracic surgeons, fellows, residents, and advanced practice providers participated in the 2024 STS Mastering Valve Surgery Workshop in Chicago on Sept 20-21. The two-day event included lectures, case-based presentations, and breakout sessions focused on mastering modern-day valve surgery, including open and transcatheter procedures for aortic, mitral, and tricuspid valves.

Image
Valve Workshop attendees
Attendees participate in a hands-on aortic valve surgery session.

"This workshop stands out for its unique blend of theoretical instruction and practical hands-on training, covering both surgical and transcatheter techniques for all valve types," said co-course director Tsuyoshi Kaneko, MD, of Washington University in St. Louis. "The active participation and insightful questions from both domestic and international attendees highlighted the course's relevance and impact."

Attendees honed their skills through small-group, hands-on experiences in wet lab settings to learn the latest in advanced valve techniques (aortic root enlargement, Ross Procedure, minimally invasive valve surgery), transcatheter therapies, and atrial fibrillation.

"I'm pleased that the valve surgery courses encompassed both traditional surgical techniques and emerging transcatheter procedures," said co-course director Katherine Harrington, MD, of Baylor Scott & White Health in Dallas. “To remain at the forefront of the latest technologies in the field, we must continually update our knowledge and ensure our outcomes are exceptional, fostering collaboration with structural heart experts."

Here's what a few attendees said about the Valve Surgery Workshop:

  • "I enjoyed the panel discussions at the end of each session and found the small-group wet labs extremely helpful.” — Alex Wang, physician assistant, Johns Hopkins Health System
  • "The best sessions were aortic root enlargement by Dr. Yang, mitral valve surgery by Dr. Badhwar, and TAVR explant by Dr. Kaneko."
  • "Overall, it was a valuable experience to interact with experts and directly view the pig heart. The catheter-based procedure simulators were also helpful for learning."
  • "Great courses and discussion topics, exemplary faculty, and I enjoyed the hands-on sessions."
  • "Moving forward, I will adopt the aortic root enlargement technique as explained by Dr. Yang, the mitral valve replacement technique of Dr. Badhwar, and the Ross Procedure technique detailed by Dr. El-Hamamsy. I also intend to incorporate the maze and atrial clip procedures more frequently into my practice."

Check out our event photo gallery. 
 

Oct 3, 2024
2 min read

Overview

In the fast-paced environment of healthcare, hospitals face significant challenges related to medical records. The increasing number of missing documents in electronic medical records (EMR) can pose obstacles to case abstraction and risk adjustment. This case study reveals the EMR challenges Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital faced and the steps the data team took to improve document management and overall performance. 

Overview

Boone Health, based in Columbia, Missouri, set out to address issues related to the appropriate discontinuation of antibiotics within 48 hours after cardiovascular surgery. This case study examines the obstacles, actions, and results led by an interdisciplinary team approach.

Overview

UC Davis Health, based in Sacramento, California, knew that implementing quality improvement measures required operational and clinical analytics to guide process development and care redesign efforts. This case study explains how the health system addressed clinical documentation challenges through better data, education, communication, and collaboration across disciplines and delivered better patient outcomes. 

A two-day virtual event that provides coders, surgeons, and billing professionals with the latest updates to CPT and physician coding and reimbursement.
Event dates
Feb 23–24, 2024
Location
Virtual
Key priorities, legislation, and resources for member advocacy
Image
advocacy Update
STS Advocacy staff outline how the end of the Federal Public Health Emergency will affect surgical practices and compensation, and explain how your advocacy efforts have helped to extend some flexibilities.
3 min read
Molly Peltzman, MA
The trusted data in the STS National Database™ has been a cornerstone for scientific research and quality improvement for more than three decades—and recently its General Thoracic (GTSD) and Congenital Heart (CHSD) surgery databases made major leaps toward demonstrating their importance across the United States.  GTSD Participants Can Earn Credit for Transparency US News & World Report recently announced its decision to create a new Public Transparency measure to be used in its Best Hospitals rankings in Pulmonology & Lung Surgery. The measure will be based on whether a hospital elects to publicly report its lobectomy outcomes on the GTSD public reporting website as of February 12, 2023.   “This is a boon for high-performing hospitals who participate in the GTSD,” said Vinay Badhwar, MD, chair of the STS Council on Quality, Research, and Patient Safety. “Those who already are publicly reporting their outcomes to the Database now have the option to earn Transparency best rankings, and GTSD participants who were not publicly reporting were given the means to opt in last month.” Dr. Badhwar added, “For hospitals who are not GTSD participants, the time to join is now.” The next edition of Best Hospitals will feature the new Public Transparency measure, and the measure will have a weight of 3% in the adult Pulmonology & Lung Surgery specialty rankings. “The same measure will be included in the Procedures & Conditions statistical analysis, and it likely will be used in calculating the Lung Cancer Surgery ratings,” wrote US News’ Ben Harder.  This means that, by simply enrolling in the STS National Database Public Reporting initiative, hospitals can receive the transparency credit.  More than 100 thoracic surgery programs nationwide are already publicly reporting their surgical outcomes. US News will review the GTSD public reporting site in February 2023, and they release their Best Hospitals lists once a year.  If a hospital joins GTSD in 2023 and enrolls in public reporting, they will be eligible to receive the transparency credit in 2024.  "For hospitals who are not GTSD participants, the time to join is now." Vinay Badhwar, MD CHSD Makes History with Infant Surgical Trial In a first-of-its-kind multicenter, NIH-funded randomized trial within a registry, investigators have found that infants undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass surgery experienced no difference in outcomes when they received prophylactic glucocorticoids versus placebo. Results from the study, made possible by the CHSD and 24 participating sites, appeared last month in the New England Journal of Medicine.  “With an NIH award of over 5 million dollars, our team successfully conducted a multicenter, prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled, registry-based clinical trial with participants enrolled at 24 sites participating in the CHSD,” said Jeffrey P. Jacobs, MD, principal investigator for the grant, titled “Leveraging existing registry resources to facilitate clinical trials.” With data curated in the CHSD, researchers were able to randomize outcomes for 1,200 infants and newborns undergoing open-heart surgery. Glucocorticoids have been used for decades in this surgical population, but until now, their benefits have remained unconfirmed. With this CHSD analysis, the research team assessed a primary outcome composite of operative mortality, 13 individual major complications, and postoperative length of stay.  “Among infants undergoing surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass, prophylactic methylprednisolone did not significantly decrease the likelihood of a worse outcome in adjusted analysis,” the authors wrote, noting that methylprednisolone additionally was associated with increased postoperative hyperglycemia requiring insulin.  The publication of these results is a reflection of the quality and power of the Database, said Dr. Jacobs, who served on STS’s Workforce on National Databases and as chair of its Congenital Heart Surgery Database Task Force. Based on his experiences, he emphasized, “The STS Congenital Heart Surgery Database is the premier registry in the world for pediatric quality assessment and research.” Database Makes Never-Before-Seen Science Possible at STS 2023 At the upcoming STS Annual Meeting in San Diego, presenters will unveil novel scientific discoveries gleaned from the robust data curation in the STS Adult Cardiac, Congenital, General Thoracic, and Intermacs/Pedimacs Databases, including Frozen elephant trunk versus traditional limited repair in acute type 1 aortic dissection Variables affecting survival in pediatric patients supported with ventricular assist devices Targeted molecular therapy and immunotherapy for lung and esophageal cancer Postcardiotomy shock and 30-day outcomes in patients with severe left ventricular systolic dysfunction Survival outcomes for patients undergoing lung transplant Establishment of an STS adult congenital heart surgery risk model The impact of surgical strategy on isolated tricuspid valve outcomes Practice patterns in the management of tetralogy of Fallot
Jan 3, 2023
4 min read

Following rave reviews last year for the first STS Coronary Conference, the second annual event will take place June 3 – 4, 2023, in Miami, Florida. 

The 2023 conference will be an important opportunity for surgeons to learn and discuss advanced techniques with top international experts, and to connect with peers from throughout the world. With the resurgence and demonstrated benefits of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, this event will present a strong opportunity to enhance knowledge, abilities, and skills for the procedure. 

Last year’s inaugural conference attracted surgeons from 18 countries who received training on critical issues around the indications and caveats of revascularization, the multiple forms of CABG, and all aspects of perioperative therapy. STS Canadian Director Marc Ruel, MD, MPH, head of the Division of Cardiac Surgery at University of Ottawa Heart Institute, and Joseph F. Sabik III, MD, surgeon-in-chief at University Hospitals, Cleveland, Ohio, served as last year’s course directors and will do so again in 2023. Also joining as program chairs are Sigrid Sandner, MD, director of the Coronary Revascularization Program at Vienna General Hospital, Austria; and David Glineur, MD, PhD, surgeon at University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Canada. 

Registration is open now at sts.org/coronaryconf.

     
Jan 3, 2023
1 min read
The latest coding and reimbursement updates affecting cardiothoracic surgical practices.
Event dates
Feb 10–11, 2023
Location
Virtual

What is reimbursement? What is a salary? What is compensation? These terms are not interchangeable and there is no standard type of employment arrangement for surgeons. In fact, depending on the reimbursement model, the surgeon may not even have a salary. This video introduces the basics of surgeon salary and compensation, while also detailing two types of reimbursement models: one for an academic practice and another for a private practice. In addition, important questions about reimbursement that cardiothoracic surgeons should consider are shared. 

Duration
8 min.

Leading societies release first comprehensive guideline of its kind

CHICAGO (January 25, 2022) — The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) and the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (AATS) released a new clinical practice guideline that includes major recommendations for managing patients with type B aortic dissection (TBAD). The guideline was published online today in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery and The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery.

Jan 20, 2022