Contact: Rachel Cagan, rcagan@acc.org, 202-375-6395

WASHINGTON, D.C.  (March 28, 2014) – The cardiovascular community has come together to develop clinical standards for how to report a variety of cardiac catheterization procedures and improve patient care by making clinical data more timely, accessible, consistent and useable.

Led by members of the American College of Cardiology (ACC), American Heart Association (AHA), and Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI), 14 professional societies from across the world have developed a Health Policy Statement that defines the clinical standards for structured reporting in the cardiac catheterization suite. The statement was published online today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and Circulation

The goal of structured reporting is to produce clear, concise, thorough and organized reports on catheterization procedures that include all information relevant to both clinical care and operational administration. For instance, it should include a minimum data set that anticipates clinical, operational, regulatory and financial uses and documents indications and appropriateness.

The result of this approach should be data-intensive reports that concisely and efficiently convey the details of a variety of catheterization procedures, such as those involving the heart and carotid arteries, peripheral blood vessels, pediatric and adult congenital and structural heart conditions, and valve replacements. The clarity, consistency and quality of these procedure reports will be a marked improvement over current approaches, which are inconsistent and vary widely among catheterization labs and vendors.

“Getting everyone on the same page is crucial to improving care for the patient,” said Tim Sanborn, MD, MS, FACC, FAHA, FSCAI, Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and project chair. “Structured reporting increases the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire catheterization team, improves communication and coordination of care, and reduces delays in care. In addition, it facilitates the use of data for clinical care, quality assessment, performance improvement, billing, regulatory, and other purposes.”

The new published statement offers specific report templates to illustrate the principles of structured reporting. These templates help users manage the patient’s data before, during and after the procedure and integrate data management into the workflows of all care team members. They provide a step-by-step process from scheduling to analysis and outlines how to compile a report once the procedure is complete. They also identify when, where, and how the processes of data are integrated into the workflow.

“These data-intense reports will efficiently convey the details of the procedure, findings, analyses and recommendations of care for the patient,” said James E. Tcheng, MD, FACC, FSCAI, FESC, interventional cardiologist, Director of Duke Information Systems for Cardiovascular Care, Duke University Health System, Durham, N.C., and vice chair of the project. “They will reduce the documentation burden and allow physicians to focus more on care recommendations for the patient.”

Widespread adoption of this structured reporting approach will require a substantial transformation of catheterization laboratory reporting that will affect administration, physicians, and staff. This transformation, however, is aligned with federal initiatives promoting the universal adoption of electronic health records.

In providing report templates, the joint effort will help accelerate the development and application of this new approach to reporting catheterization procedures. Yet also critical to the success of this effort is for health information technology vendors to build and implement systems that enable structured reporting.

The new document, titled, “ACC/AHA/SCAI 2014 Health Policy Statement on Structured Reporting for the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory,” can be found on www.cardiosource.org, www.americanheart.org, www.scai.org, www.hl7.org, www.ihe.net, www.sts.org, and www.vascularweb.org.

About the American College of Cardiology
The mission of the American College of Cardiology is to transform cardiovascular care and improve heart health. The College is a 47,000-member medical society comprised of physicians, surgeons, nurses, physician assistants, pharmacists and practice managers. The College is a leader in the formulation of health policy, standards and guidelines. The ACC provides professional education, operates national registries to measure and improve quality of care, disseminates cardiovascular research, and bestows credentials upon cardiovascular specialists who meet stringent qualifications. For more information, visit www.cardiosource.org.

About the American Heart Association
The American Heart Association is devoted to saving people from heart disease and stroke – America’s No. 1 and No. 4 killers. We team with millions of volunteers to fund innovative research, fight for stronger public health policies, and provide lifesaving tools and information to prevent and treat these diseases. The Dallas-based association is the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. To learn more or to get involved, call 1-800-AHA-USA1, visit heart.org or call any of our offices around the country.  Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

About the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions
The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions is a 4,000-member professional organization representing invasive and interventional cardiologists in approximately 70 nations. SCAI's mission is to promote excellence in invasive/interventional cardiovascular medicine through physician education and representation, and advancement of quality standards to enhance patient care. SCAI's public education program, Seconds Count, offers comprehensive information about cardiovascular disease. For more information, visit http://www.SCAI.org/ or www.SecondsCount.org. Follow @SCAI and @SCAINews on Twitter for the latest heart health news.

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