The Mount Sinai Hospital Department of Cardiovascular Surgery Receives Highest Quality National Ratings

The department received the highest three-star ratings across all measurable categories in the STS Adult Cardiac Surgery Database, the national benchmark to assess excellence in cardiovascular surgery outcomes.

The Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at The Mount Sinai Hospital has received the highest possible three-star recognition in all cardiac surgical categories in the recently reported 2020-2023 Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) Database.

The STS Adult Cardiac Surgery Database is the current national benchmark to assess excellence in cardiovascular surgery outcomes. It uses a three-star scale (3=better than expected, 2=as expected, 1=worse than expected) to rate institutions across five common cardiovascular procedures. They include coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG); aortic valve replacement (AVR); AVR and CABG; mitral valve replacement/repair (MVRR); and MVRR and CABG. The registry’s risk-standardized results for each category reflect 30-day outcomes for mortality, stroke, major or life-threatening bleeding, acute kidney injury, and prolonged ventilation.

The Department of Cardiovascular Surgery has achieved three-stars in a number of surgical categories—particularly mitral valve and aortic valve replacement—since the STS ratings were initiated in the last decade, according to Julie Swain, MD, Professor and Vice Chair of Cardiovascular Surgery. “In the most recent ratings, however, we had the highest three-star ratings across all measured categories,” she notes. “This all-inclusive achievement is a powerful commentary on the competence level of our entire team, our high surgical volume, and our excellent performance in all types of operations.”

“This all-inclusive achievement is a powerful commentary on the competence level of our entire team, our high surgical volume, and our excellent performance in all types of operations.”
Julie Swain, MD

From left: Ismail El-Hamamsy, MD, PhD, Director, Aortic Surgery; Ahmed El-Eshmawi, MD, Clinical Director, and Percy Boateng, MD, National Director, Mitral Valve Repair Center; David H. Adams, MD, Chair of Cardiovascular Surgery; Anelechi Anyanwu, MD, Surgical Director, Heart Transplantation; Robin Varghese, MD, MS, Director, Cardiovascular Critical Care; Zdravka Zafirova, MD, Director, Cardiovascular Intensive Care; and Menachem Weiner, MD, Director, Cardiothoracic Anesthesia.

Voluntary participation in the STS registry carries a variety of benefits for more than 800 institutions that participate nationally. It allows them to publicly showcase their commitment to continuous quality improvement in the field of cardiovascular surgery, and it helps hospitals bridge any gaps between science and clinical practice to improve the quality of cardiovascular care delivery.

“It is very unusual to earn a three-star rating across all surgical procedures evaluated nationally,” says David H. Adams, MD, Cardiac Surgeon-in-Chief, Mount Sinai Health System, and the Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Professor and Chair of Cardiovascular Surgery. “It is not only a testament to the incredible skills and capabilities of our surgeons, anesthesiologists, intensivists, and cardiologists, but it also reflects the incredible multidisciplinary expertise available to our patients from a broad range of professionals across the Mount Sinai Health System.”

Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital is ranked No. 4 in the nation and No. 1 in New York for Cardiology, Heart and Vascular Surgery by U.S. News & World Report^® for 2023-2024. The center’s specialists are widely recognized for their ability to blend advanced research with clinical practice—helping to account for the large volume of national and international patients who are referred each year to the hospital.