Cardiovascular surgeons with the CHI St. Vincent Heart Institute at the Infirmary in Little Rock earned a distinguished three-star rating for patient care and outcomes in mitral valve replacement and repair (MVRR) surgery with coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS). The STS star rating system is one of the most sophisticated and highly regarded overall measures of quality in health care and the three-star rating denotes the highest category of quality the system bestows.

“This recognition confirms something that we have long known. It recognizes that our cardiovascular surgeons with the CHI St. Vincent Heart Institute are among the elite surgeons for these procedures, not just here in Arkansas, but across the country,” said Marcia Atkinson, president of the CHI St. Vincent Heart Institute.

Cardiologists and cardiac surgeons at the CHI St. Vincent Heart Institute provide access to the latest technology, advanced techniques and treatments to ensure patients benefit from the highest standard of heart care. In August, CHI St. Vincent Infirmary was also recognized as the best hospital in Arkansas for cardiology and heart surgery in the 2020–21 Best Hospital Rankings from U.S. News & World Report.

“Our heart surgeons not only go above and beyond for our patients each and every day, but as a team, we constantly strive to improve that level of exceptional, compassionate care for our community,” said CHI St. Vincent cardiovascular surgeon Dr. Michael Bauer. “This recognition of quality care from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons further demonstrates why our patients trust our surgeons when they require the very best in heart care.”

The latest analysis of data for MVRR+CABG surgery covers a three-year period from July 2017 to June 2020 and includes 3,800 participants. STS benchmarks outcomes of cardiothoracic surgery programs using a combination of quality measures for specific procedures performed by database participants. The STS National Database was established in 1989 as an initiative for quality improvement and patient safety among cardiothoracic surgeons and gathers information from more than 3,800 participating physicians, including surgeons and anesthesiologists from more than 90% of hospitals that perform heart surgery in the United States.

“Participation in the database and public reporting demonstrates a commitment to quality improvement in health care delivery and provides patients and their families with meaningful information to help them make informed decisions about health care,” said David M. Shahian, MD, chair of the Task Force on Quality Measurement. “The Society of Thoracic Surgeons congratulates STS National Database participants who have received three-star ratings.”

In February, CHI St. Vincent Heart Institute was one of only two institutions recognized as a center of excellence for both Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) and Transcatheter Edge-to-Edge Repair (MitraClip™) (TEER) heart procedures across the 142 hospital and 21 state CommonSpirit Health system. In 2019, the CHI St. Vincent Heart Institute also announced a seven-year collaboration with Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based Penn Medicine to accelerate high-priority clinical research efforts related to heart surgery and implement novel approaches into surgical practice. To learn more about the CHI St. Vincent Heart Institute or schedule an appointment, visit: chistvincent.com/heart