A recent ACC Advisory, published Nov. 18 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, describes the public reporting efforts from the ACC and its partners, the Heart Rhythm Society and the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, including the benefits, challenges and what to expect from the data. Currently, the publically reported data from the NCDR includes process-of-care measures from ACC’s CathPCI Registry and ICD Registry.

The ACC and its partners have developed a public reporting pathway in an effort to allow individuals to obtain information about the care they are likely to receive at an institution. Prior to the data release, this information was only available to NCDR facilities. Hospitals across the U.S. are now voluntarily reporting their NCDR data on several measures related to percutaneous coronary intervention and implantable cardioverter defibrillator procedures through FindYourHeartaHome.org, powered by ACC’s CardioSmart.

Gregory J. Dehmer, MD, MACC, chair of the NCDR Public Reporting Advisory Group, et al. note, “With the current national emphasis on the quality accountability and cost-effectiveness of health care, the various stakeholders and consumers of health care are eager to obtain information about health care facilities and providers.” They add that in addition to enabling patients to identify the best institution for their needs, public reporting incentivizes clinicians and health care organizations to improve quality of care.

Institutions reporting data to the NCDR can qualify for public reporting if they record at least 25 procedures annually in the CathPCI Registry and/or at least 11 procedures annually in the ICD Registry. A total of 97 percent of facilities reporting data in the CathPCI Registry and 80 percent of facilities reporting in the ICD Registry are eligible for public reporting. The authors note that all data reported to the NCDR from participating institutions are checked for data completeness and accuracy.

According to Dehmer et al., the cardiovascular public reporting program will use “high-quality clinical data that fairly and accurately characterizes the care provided while delivering usable and understandable information to the public.”

They add that “the ACC recognizes that reporting alone is not sufficient to drive improvements in care delivery and will continue to build Clinical Toolkits as part of the Quality Improvement for Institutions initiative … the NCDR data are used to identify gaps in care as priority topics for toolkit development.”

Hospitals can opt in to publicly report at any point by submitting a data consent form for the CathPCI Registry and/or ICD Registry. Hospitals that choose not to publicly report will be listed as "not participating" with ACC public reporting. Read more about the launch of ACC’s public reporting program. Patient-focused information on the measures is available at FindYourHeartaHome.org.

Keywords: Angiography, Defibrillators, Implantable, Percutaneous Coronary Intervention, Quality Improvement, CathPCI Registry, ICD Registry, National Cardiovascular Data Registries

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