Quality and Outcomes

A Doernbecher Childrens Hospital nurse holds a pediatric patient being checked with a stethoscopeDoernbecher Children’s Hospital is dedicated to giving your child and family the highest-quality care. As part of our commitment to excellence and transparency, we’re pleased to share information on outcomes. Our heart surgery outcomes are on par with the averages from across North America, and our hospital stays are significantly shorter.

Culture of excellence

We are proud members of the National Pediatric Cardiology Quality Improvement  Collaborative.

NPC-QIC is a network of more than 65 leading U.S. pediatric cardiology care centers  that are dedicated to improving outcomes for children with congenital heart disease. The network is particularly focused on improving “interstage” outcomes (between a first and second surgery) for infants with single ventricle defects.

As part of our culture of excellence, we also formally recognize employees for outstanding service beyond their normal duties.

Heart surgery outcomes

Doernbecher is among about 120 pediatric hospitals, all but two in North America, to voluntarily report congenital heart surgery statistics to the International Society of Thoracic Surgeons. The STS is the recognized leader in efforts to improve outcomes for surgeries on the heart, lungs, esophagus and other areas in the chest. As part of that, the society keeps a database of statistics.

Survival rates reflect patients who survived at least 30 days after surgery and who were discharged from the hospital. Doernbecher’s statistics include only surgeries tracked by the STS.

Please note that every case is different. Doernbecher’s numbers cannot predict the outcome for any one child. Some categories also have only a few cases, which can significantly skew the survival rate.

If you have questions or concerns about your child’s unique condition, the heart care team at Doernbecher would be happy to talk with you. Families can call us at 503-346-0640. Referring providers can reach us at 503-346-0644.

Overall survival, July 2014-June 2018

 

Number of surgeries

Survival rate

Doernbecher

753

97.2%

STS

92,588

97.1%

Survival rates by type of surgery, July 2014-June 2018

Off-bypass coarctation

 

Number of surgeries

Survival rate

Doernbecher

34

97.1%

STS

3,856

98.6%

VSD (ventricular septal defect)

 

Number of surgeries

Survival rate

Doernbecher

53

100%

STS

7,419

99.4%

TOF (tetralogy of Fallot)

 

Number of surgeries

Survival rate

Doernbecher

37

97.3%

STS

4,831

98.8%

Complete AVC (atrioventricular canal)

 

Number of surgeries

Survival rate

Doernbecher

30

96.7%

STS

3,238

97.4%

ASO (arterial switch operation)

 

Number of surgeries

Survival rate

Doernbecher

16

100%

STS

1,870

97.9%

ASO + VSD

 

Number of surgeries

Survival rate

Doernbecher

6

100%

STS

811

95.3%

Glenn

 

Number of surgeries

Survival rate

Doernbecher

27

100%

STS

4,294

98.0%

Fontan

 

Number of surgeries

Survival rate

Doernbecher

28

100%

STS

4,113

99.0%

Truncus

 

Number of surgeries

Survival rate

Doernbecher

2

100%

STS

590

89.9%

Norwood

 

Number of surgeries

Survival rate

Doernbecher

24

79.2%

STS

2,710

85.1%

Days in the hospital

Median length of stay, July 2014-June 2018

Doernbecher patients, on average, spend far fewer days in the hospital than the STS average. The median is the point at which half of patients stayed less time and half more.

 

Off-bypass coarctation

VSD

TOF

Complete AVC

ASO

ASO + VSD

Glenn

Fontan

Truncus

Norwood

Doernbecher

5.0

4.0

6.0

7.0

9.0

13.0

6.0

9.0

17.5

17.0

STS

12.0

9.2

11.6

17.3

17.0

19.3

14.4

13.6

26.9

48.9

Survival by surgery category, July 2014-June 2018

The Society of Thoracic Surgeons and European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery use STAT categories to group surgeries by risk of mortality. Categories are on a five-tier scale: STAT Category 1 is associated with surgeries that have the least risk, STAT Category 5 with surgeries that have the most. The categories are based on data from tens of thousands of surgeries.

                                                                                               

 

Doernbecher survival rate

STS survival rate

STAT 1

100%

99.6%

STAT 2

98.7%

98.5%

STAT 3

98.9%

97.7%

STAT 4

91.3%

93.6%

STAT 5

81.8%

85.6%