Beginning July 18, 2013, hospitals across the country will voluntarily report their 30-day all-cause risk-standardized readmission rates following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). This voluntary public reporting pilot program is the result of a partnership between the ACC, Yale New Haven Health Services Corporation −Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (YNHHSC-CORE), and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

Additional Resources Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Hospital Compare Website ACC's Public Reporting Principles

Over 300 hospitals participating in the ACC's National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR®) CathPCI Registry® have elected to voluntarily publicly report their measure results on CMS's Hospital Compare  website, established by CMS in 2005 to report hospital quality information. From Jan. 1, 2010 to Nov. 30, 2011, the overall NCDR® CathPCI Registry® readmission rate was 11.9 percent.

"By publicly reporting, hospitals are pioneering efforts to engage patients in understanding the quality of cardiovascular care being provided in their local communities," said ACC President John Gordon Harold, MD, MACC.

The voluntary public reporting initiative was launched in early 2013 after ACC, YNHHSC-CORE, and CMS collaborated to develop the PCI readmission measure, obtain National Quality Forum endorsement, and determine a path forward for voluntary public reporting. The measure uses methodology that is consistent with methods used to identify unplanned readmissions in the CMS measures currently reported on Hospital Compare for acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, and pneumonia. The PCI readmission measure is unique, however, in that it uses clinical registry data to assess the health of each hospital's patient population for risk adjustment.

"The PCI voluntary public reporting pilot leverages the existing infrastructure of the ACC's registries to provide additional quality information to the public," said Gregory J. Dehmer, MD, FACC, chair of the ACC Public Reporting Advisory Group. "It is aligned with the ACC public reporting principles, which emphasize quality improvement based upon rigorous data, requires reporting that is scientifically valid, includes physician participation, uses standardized data elements, and implements a formal review process." The ACC's public reporting principles  were established in 2008.

Patient-focused information on the measure is available at CardioSmart.org/myhospital.

Keywords: Quality Improvement, Registries, Myocardial Infarction, Pneumonia, Medicaid, Heart Failure, Medicare, United States, Percutaneous Coronary Intervention, Risk Adjustment

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