171 Ashley Ave.
Charleston, SC 29425
843-792-1414
800-424-MUSC
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June 2008
I have two reasons to be particularly proud of our MUSC Children's Hospital this month. As the Medical Director, I am delighted to announce that our Children's Heart Program was ranked by US News & World Report in the top 20 such programs nationally (#19). Of course, I am ecstatic for our program and for my colleagues.
How does something like this come about? The first piece is the technical details of the ranking system. The magazine is in the process of moving from a reputation-only system to a more evidence-based one. However, because few administrative databases exist for outcomes in children, such as Medicare for adults, they are mostly dependant on self reporting of program characteristics and outcomes. Consequently, the magazine still uses reputation, as determined by a survey of pediatric specialists, for 50 percent of the overall rank. Outcomes based on surgical mortality count for 10 percent and structural aspects of the program count for 40 percent. Importantly, MUSC was in the top 20 despite a reputation score of 0 percent, indicating that the other features of the program ranked very highly. In fact, our surgical case survival over the last five years is 98.8 percent (mortality 1.2 percent), which placed us in the lowest mortality category for the ranked programs. We believe an accurate mortality rate is the best indicator of program performance because it reflects all the operational aspects of patient care. Nonetheless, marketing efforts for the next year will focus on improving our reputation score.
The second piece is the dedicated team of specialists who work together toward the same goals. In our case, the team includes a range of pediatric cardiology specialists (imaging, catheterization, intensive care, electrophysiology, and outpatient care), pediatric cardiac surgeons and anesthesiologists, pediatric heart-lung perfusion specialists, nurses, physician extenders, respiratory therapists, child-life specialists, and on and on. It is the dedication of these individuals that allows us to deliver the very best care available anywhere in the world.
So, in the end, I will finish my column as I started it. I am so proud of our MUSC Children's Hospital and our statewide Children's Heart Program. Congratulations to everyone involved and I look forward to continued dedication and success.
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J. Philip Saul, MD
Medical Director
Director, Pediatric Cardiology |
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